How I Got Saved
by Bri Nara
Summary: Toris was always bullied from day one. Can this new student, Feliks, cure a broken spirit? Warning: homophobia, suicidal themes, bullying, and Highschool AU.
1. That Place

**United States of Hetalia Production**

_I was doing some... reminiscing... and came up with this story. A certain anon who recently reviewed on my other story actually got me sad enough to post this story. I'm not trying to be funny (which I find very hard). I don't own Hetalia._

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><p><em>That place is very cold.<em>

_I knew it from the m__oment I moved here._

_From the moment they saw me pick up a book willingly._

_"You're so **gay**."_

_"So **retarded**."_

_"Freak."_

_"**Fag**."_

_I was just a kid back then. I didn't know what those words meant. All I knew was that they were insults._

_"Mama, what does gay mean?"_

_My mother nearly crashed the car we were in when I asked that. She had a wide eyes full of shock and... slight disgust._

_"W-What? __Toris, where did you learn that word?"_

_"The kids at school called me that. What does it mean?"_

_She just smiled and patted my head. "It's a bad thing. Don't worry about it. Just ignore them."_

_But I couldn't ignore them. They were everywhere._

_Almost every pair of eyes were cold. Glaring daggers. And those who didn't glare at me just had eyes full of pity._

_Nobody would go near me. Like I was the Plague. If they were assigned to sit next to me or to work with me, they would groan._

_"Just get the project done and get it over with, fag."_

_"Eeew. It's Toris."_

_They would hide my books. Put used tissues in the hood of my jacket. Trip me in the hallways when I'm walking close to the stairway. Beat me. Hiss at me. Scorn me. Shoot hornets at me. Tell me to go die._

_Anything and everything._

_I told the teachers. They just scold them. And it earns me the name 'snitch'._

_I can't fight back._

_I can't tell._

_I can't cry._

_That place is very cold._

**This is going to be my first (actual) attempt at Hurt/Comfort. Not meant to be funny.  
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**Review, please.  
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	2. That Boy

_For the record, this story is written from personal experience. (Heart) Only Toris is better and worse in some aspects. For better: I'm throwing Feliks in there. For worse: His lasts longer than my mere two years and he actually gets hurt in more ways than one.  
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_I don't own Hetalia._

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><p><em>POV: Toris<em>

It was World History class as usual.

The teacher was talking about the lesson. Most of the others in the room were pretending to care. I was actually taking notes.

Just usual.

Until the door to the classroom got thrown open and a blonde kid ran in.

"I'm, like, _so _sorry I'm late! I totally got lost on the way here!"

There were several things that stuck out about this kid: the hair was blonde and chin-length, the eyes were green, the backpack was pink, the fact that they were a new student was obvious, and the overall appearance was feminine. However, there was one detail that stuck out the most for every person in the room:

The voice was masculine.

"It's alright, Feliks. Go take one of the seats next to Toris over there."

Everyone sneered at the blonde, Feliks, as he strolled over to one of the empty desks. He glanced over at me and gave a small wave.

I meekly waved back, not looking him in the eye.

"Alright, as I've told you before, you're going to be assigned a research project on a country."

Half the room groaned.

"Oh relax. You at least get to choose your partners this time."

The moment the teacher said 'choose' everyone scrambled out of their seats. They almost ran over to where-ever their friends are. I just stayed where I was. I'll just deal with whoever is left over.

"Hey... Um... Toris, right?"

I turned to see that boy looking at me nervously. His hands were balled up into fists in his lap.

"Yes?" I asked.

"D-do you want to... like... work with me?" He was trembling.

I blinked. "What?"

"Like, do you want to work with me?" he asked again quickly.

He... actually _wanted _to be my partner? Was he trying to trick me?

...No. His seemed genuinely nervous. He was new.

He didn't seem as cold as _them_.

"Alright."

The teacher checked to see if everyone was paired up and passed out little slips of paper.

Feliks grabbed the paper and read it aloud to me.

"'The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth'... I hope you, like, know about Lithuania, 'cause I don't."

"Don't worry. I'm Lithuanian. I think we can handle-"

"OMG, really?" All the nervousness Feliks had before seemed to melt away. "My family's, like, totally Polish! This project will be a piece of cake!"

I was taken aback.

This person sure is... loud.

After digging through our text books for information, the bell rung for second period. I was about to leave when I felt someone grab my shoulder.

I tried my hardest not to wince and turned around. It was Feliks holding his schedule.

"Hey, like, what do you have next?"

The world seemed to freeze. A few people stopped and stared. For just one reason.

Someone was talking to me willingly.

Someone was talking to Toris Laurinaitis, the school's 'fag', willingly.

**End for this chapter of stress relief. Next chapter will be in Feliks' POV.**

**Review.**


	3. That Cookie

_Here's the next chapter._

_No, not everyone in the school is homophobic. The majority of the students are either: homophobic, apathetic, or they don't want to end up like Toris._

_Haha. Don't worry, I'm mostly fine now! I'm just a bit of crybaby and I really hate the cold. ^^"_

_Ok, Feliks, I now make you the designated comic relief. Because if not, this thing is going to be one big mushy ball of sadness and fluff.  
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_I don't own Hetalia._

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><p><em>POV: Feliks<em>

"Tranny..."

"Freak..."

"Fag..."

Wow, the people here are, like, so rude.

Anyways, it was lunch and there was no place to sit.

You see, I get, like, totally nervous around new people. So I can't just go up to a random seat and go 'This spot taken? 'Kay, thanks!'

So since there were, like, no seats in the cafeteria, I decided to see if there was anywhere open in the courtyard. The only empty table in the entire courtyard was underneath this huge peach tree and beside a trash can.

I would totally like to have a nice long chat with whoever decided to put a trash can in the prettiest spot in the school.

Haha... I must look, like, so sad. Eating pizza alone at lunch.

...Never mind, this stuff totes isn't pizza. It's rubber-cement on a tray.

"...E...Excuse me..."

I looked up from my poor excuse of a lunch to see that brunette I share half of my classes with.

Uh... Toris.

"Do you mind if I sit here with you...?" And in the blink of an eye, he had a cookie in his hand and held out to me.

Not just an Oreo or some Chips Ahoy. It was, like, one of those _big _cookies that costs an extra dollar to get with your lunch.

Wait. We barely know each other. We literally just met this morning. Why would he be giving me his super awesome cookie?

Unless ...Oh _no_. I _know _this kid isn't trying to bribe me into letting him sit with me... with a _cookie._

That's just, like, sad.

"I totally don't mind!" I said cheerily. I gestured for him to sit, and he took the seat as far away from me as you can get at that itty-bitty table. Which was, like, right beside the garbage can.

Hm. He must be nervous around new people too.

"Here." He was still holding out the cookie to me.

"You, like, don't have to give me your cookie"

"...I insist."

I was about to look him in the eye and tell him 'Look! You can keep your freaking cookie! You don't have to pay someone just to sit down!' but I stopped. Because I saw them.

His eyes.

They were totally dull.

They looked like they didn't have any life in them. They were distrustful. The were observing, like a chess-master's. But there was some flicker in them asked 'Is it safe here?'. Toris had dull forest green eyes that shifted their gaze to the table before I could look more.

"...Fine." After I took the cookie, Toris looked relieved for some reason. He sat back and started staring at something in his lap. "Like, what are you doing, Toris?"

Suddenly, his head snapped back up and he was blushing. "...N-Nothing..." He slipped whatever was in his lap into his backpack.

"Tell me!"

He looked sorta flustered. "I was... reading. Alright? I was reading." He pulled out a thin little book called 'Of Mice and Men' as proof. "S-Sorry."

He was... embarrassed! Just over reading! That's, like, so funny! I just _had _to laugh.

He gave me this confused look when I started laughing. "Um... Sorry, but did I do something funny?"

I waved my hands in front of me. "No, no! I just totally don't get why you're getting embarrassed over something like that!"

"When you put it that way..." He opened the book, but this time he had it out in the open.

For a while, we just, like, small talk. How was I liking the school. What that little book was about. Did you see the 'pizza' move too. Blah blah blah. Toris seemed to lighten up a bit.

Juuust a bit.

Lunch was almost over when, like, this short boy was heading towards the garbage can. Toris saw him out of the corner of his eye.

I could have sworn that I saw Toris tense up.

The boy walked up to the trash can and opened the flap to it, but I didn't hear any of his stuff hit the bottom. Toris was blocking my view of the boy's other hand.

Wait... Toris was trembling and he had a disgusted look on his face. Like, what happened?

That boy walked away smirking, like he just did something amazing. Toris reached up and behind his neck.

"Toris? Like, what's wrong?" I asked.

Out of the hood of his jacket, he pulled out: a rotting apple core, a now-half empty milk carton which spilled into the hood, used napkins, and half of a rubber-cement pizza.

"Nothing." He nonchalantly opened the garbage can and threw the crap in there.

But his eyes went dull again.

**There you go. Some comic relief, fluff, and more sad stuff.  
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**Review.**


	4. That Name

_Since today is an anniversary of a day related to this story (the day I moved to 'that place'), here you go.  
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_Remember, I don't own anything._

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><p><em>POV: Toris<em>

I stood out at the bus stop as the freezing November air bit at my cheeks.

As usual, I show up much too early for my skin to endure such temperatures.

Now... what to do... There's usually nothing to do here except daydream and think...

...Would Feliks be there today...?

No. Where on Earth did that thought come from? Of course Feliks wouldn't be there. Even if he was there, he'd start to avoid me like _them_.

...Would he talk to me like yesterday?

...Maybe. Then maybe we could be... friends?

I shook my head at the thought.

Stop being such an idealist, Toris! You know how real life works! You read the ending of 'Of Mice and Men'! Friendships don't last!

You remember what happened last time.

Despite this little internal conflict, I still entered the bus in a stupor with only one thought running through my head.

What if Feliks and I could be friends? Friends that actually last?

I was still pondering the possibilities even when the bus reached school. My body automatically went toward my locker then my homeroom. I wasn't aware of a single thing around me. Just the one hopeful word repeating itself incessantly in my head.

Friend...

"Hey, faggot!"

Just like that, my blissful stupor was shattered.

"Yes?" I asked flatly.

"...I don't like that tone of yours..."

Later...

I'm going to be late...

I ran as fast as I could to homeroom. My heavy backpack colliding with my sore back with every step I took.

I rushed into and quickly apologized to my teacher. "I'm so sorry that I'm late, ma'am!"

"It's alright, just take a seat."

I slumped into my chair and pulled out a book to read. Why was I so happy earlier again?

"Hey! Liet!" a cheery voice called. Feliks.

Oh yeah. That's why.

"Liet! Liiiiet!"

He kept repeating 'Liet' over and over until he finally tapped me on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

Feliks was pouting. "How come you didn't answer me when I was calling you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "So I'm 'Liet'?"

Feliks got this enlightened look his face and bonked himself on the forehead. "Oh! Duh! I'm, like, so forgetful! I was, like, thinking all night about a totally cute nickname for you!"

"Alright, but how did you come up with 'Liet'?"

"I was sitting around, like, all night going 'What should I call that nice kid I met at school? Tori? No, that sounds too much like that girl from Victorious!' And... uh... you said you were Lithuanian, right? My mom said that, like, the word for Lithuania there is 'Lietuva'. I just made it shorter." I had a big grin on his face. I guess he was proud of the strange name for me.

"...Okay. Liet it is, then."

"Sweet!"

"Sorry I don't have a n-nickname for you though..."

Feliks waved a hand. "Pssh. It's fine."

And I thought as Feliks continued idly chatting with me before class started,

'Maybe we could be friends.'

**Gah, this chapter sucks. DX **

**Anyways, review, please! ^^**


	5. That Game

_Sorry this took a while. I was trying to figure out how to approach this.  
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_I don't own Hetalia._

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><p><em>POV: Feliks<em>

Today was, like, my first day of PE class.

I already got the totally un-cute uniform and a locker.

The locker room was crowded, small, and it smelled terrible. So it was pretty much like any other locker room on the planet.

I was looking for my locker when I saw someone's back.

It was bruised, cut, and it looked sort of weak. The back was full of color. Reds, purples, blues, yellows, and every other color that was not supposed to be healthy skin color. Some of the wounds were healing and some of the bruises were yellowing. But half of them looked fresh.

After a second that seemed to last forever, the back was covered up with a shirt and a jacket. The owner of it turned around and left the locker room in a flash.

"You checking him out, Tranny?"

I turned around to see who just said that, but there were too many guys with their backs turned. I couldn't tell who said it.

About 10 minutes later we were all out in the fields and had belts with little flags on them.

Because we were playing 'Capture the Flag'.

For the people who don't get how this game works, there is, like, a flag for each side. The other team has to run onto your side, grab the flag, and bring it back to their side. If your belt is taken off while your on the other team's side, you have to go to the 'jail' on the sidelines and stay there until someone on your team rescues you. That's all the rules that matter.

I was totally just going to stay on my side and relax the whole time. I'm sure the fast runners can handle this-

"Go away, dammit!"

I turned around and saw Liet chasing after this big guy who's name escapes me... I know it started with a K or something. Kyle? Yeah, that was his name.

Liet sure was determined as hell to defend his side. He sprinted up to Kyle and snatched his belt in the blink of an eye. But he didn't seem that happy that he caught someone like anyone else would. He was glaring.

"Go to jail," he said bluntly. He tossed Kyle his belt back and pointed toward the side of the field.

My _gawd, _he sounded cold.

Kyle just scoffed as he reattached his belt, clutched the buckle with both hands, and ran toward our team's flag again... WAIT A MINUTE! CHEATER!

I was about to run after the stupid cheater, but Liet totally beat me to him. The guy barely made it ten steps before his belt got ripped off and stomped to the ground.

Liet had his foot on top of the belt and was glaring at Kyle.

"Go. To. Jail." he ordered.

"Alright alright, _fine. _Just get your damn monkey-foot off my flag." He retrieved his belt and went to the sidelines this time.

I ran over to Liet, who was still glaring Kyle down like glaring would make the guy burst into flames. "Liet! That was, like, totally awesome!"

Liet looked at the ground sheepishly. "I-It was nothing... I'm just following the rules is all..."

"That was still cool! How you, like, totally chased that guy down and you took his flag like a ninja!" I gave him a smack on the back.

"O-OW!" Liet put a hand over his mouth to muffle a cry of pain. He jumped away from me.

"Oh! Liet! I'm, like, so sorry!"

"I-It's fine!" He said breathlessly. "I have a bad back! I slouch too much. Nothing to worry about! Ahaha..."

He...

He was looking to the side as he said that...

**There you go. Sorry this took a while to update. ^^"**

**Review.**


	6. That House

_Here's the next chapter_. _I'm sorry this took so long._

_I don't own Hetalia, as usual._

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><p><em>POV: Toris<em>

I slipped inside and escaped the bitter November air. I locked the door behind me and looked around the empty house.

"I'm home."

This was greeted with silence.

I sighed and dragged myself up the stairs to my room.

It was somewhat plain. White walls, bed in the corner, dresser, and book-filled closet.

Only real thing of interest was an old photo on the dresser.

It was a picture of a much younger me with three other boys and a girl. One of the boys had blonde hair and glasses, whom was smiling calmly to the camera. The boy beside him was short and had curly blonde hair. I remember him trembling as the picture was being taken and attempting a nervous smile. The boy almost towering over us had pale hair and a huge smile on his face. And the girl with the blank look on her face had shiny blonde hair.

I remember thinking she was so pretty...

Anyways, I was about to bend over a textbook and start my homework when a dull ache from my back stopped me.

"Of course..."

I dropped what I was doing and headed toward the bathroom to see if I had any bandages left.

...

_Now that he could see the place it looked more private than ever. He went in very solemnly_, _looking about him. Everything was very quiet inside. Even the fountain which rose near the middle of the garden made only the the faintest sound. The lovely smell was all round him: it was a happy place but very serious._

_He knew which was the right tree at once, partly because it stood in the very center and partly because the great silver apples with which it was loaded shone so and cast a light of their own down on the shadowy places where the sunlight did not reach. He walked straight across to it, picked an apple, and-_

I hear the front door open.

Suddenly the garden, the hill, the imaginary scent was gone.

I looked out the pitch-black window.

I was back in my own world. I sighed as I put the bookmark in its place.

"Toris! We're home!"

"Welcome home, Mom and Dad."

Mom dumped whatever food she brought for me on the table, and they both scampered off to the master bedroom. They were probably tired after another long day at work, I didn't want to disturb them.

So I took the food upstairs and reopened the book.

Imagining that I was eating delicious silver apples of the garden atop the hill.

**I'm so sorry! I have no excuse for taking this long! I couldn't think of anything good for this chapter..**

**The excerpt is from _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew _because the flight of the Weasley twins had less imagery than I thought so this was my second choice...  
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**Anyways, review, please!**


	7. That Scream

_Tomorrow is Day of Silence (being silent, all day) to protest bullying against homosexuals and bisexuals, so I thought of this. This is based off yet another memory, so...yeah..._

_Hope you enjoy._

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><p><em>POV: Feliks<em>

So me and Liet have been friends for, like, weeks.

There were, like, a bunch of little habits Toris has that I don't think he notices.

Like, for one: He makes funny faces when he reads. Seriously. Once he was reading a Harry Potter book at lunch and he totally zoned out. He didn't hear a word I said. And he had this terrified look on his face, like something would come out of the brick of a book and eat him. When I snapped him out of it, he was like sobbing 'You-Know-Who is back! You-Know-Who is baaaack!'

Then I was like: 'Dumbledore Spoiler.'

Then he was like: 'Oh no you didn't just tell me the ending of the sixth book when I'm only on the fourth book!'

Then I was all like: 'Well sooooorryyyy you've been living under a rock without Internet.'

Another thing is like, he gets scared really easily. If I pop up behind him and go 'Hiya Liet!', he jumps a foot in the air. It's actually sorta funny. He starts blushing and freaking out. It's only funny around me, though. When he spots someone like... that guy Kyle, or that short kid that stuffed garage down his jacket, Bradford, he just tenses up and moves closer to me.

The last thing I've noticed is that Toris Laurinaitis looks like a puppy when he's upset.

...

So, like, anyways! It was the end of the school day and we were in homeroom.

We put like, used our backpacks as shields against little paper-slingshot-thingies that kept being shot at us. But Liet was, like, chatting away about some fantasy book he read. I _would _shut him up, but he's practically a mute when he's not with me.

"...and there was treasure _everywhere_! Even if he didn't really get a chance to enjoy it...Poor kid." He shrugged. "Well, that's what happens to those who are greedy." He sighed. "I wish real life were like that..."

I tilted my head. Okay, Liet's read _way _too many 1950s fantasy novels. "Like, why would you wish that? Everyone would be, like, screwed."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess some people need to-" He noticed something off about his mini-mountain of binders and books that refused to fit in his over-stuffed backpack. "My planner!" He got up from our connected desks. "Um...Feliks? Would you mind coming with me to retrieve my planner? I believe I left it in the science room..."

"'Course not, Liet!"

We both grabbed our stuff and heading toward the building with the science rooms. How Liet managed to carry around a thick binder, a textbook, and two Narnia books in his arms without getting tired was the 8th Wonder of the World.

When we finally arrived at the right science classroom, we opened the door.

Suddenly there was an ear-splitting scream right in front of us.

Kyle was standing in front of us with his hammy hands over his mouth. Now, he was a good foot taller than both of us, but he screamed like a little girl when Liet walked in.

My. Freaking. Ears.

"WHAT IS _WRONG _WITH YOU?" I snapped at him.

He gestured at Liet. "HIS _FACE_!"

Toris never looked more like a kicked puppy than at that moment.

Then his face melted into a cold and stoic glare. "I was just getting my planner, Brooks," he explained sharply. He strode to the front of the room, snatched his planner off the front desk, then headed toward the door. "Come on, Feliks. We'll miss our buses."

It took me a moment to register that this was still the same kid who was happily chatting about dragons and treasure not even ten minutes ago. I followed him, but we didn't say a word until we reached the buses.

He had _that _face. That scrunched up face when you're trying not to cry.

So when we arrived before my bus, I grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Liet!"

"...Yes?" he croaked.

"Look... if this is about, like, what that jerk said to you, it's fine. There's absolutely _nothing _wrong with your face. Except for, like, right now. It totally looks a look better when you're smiling." I pulled the corner of his lips up. "See?"

He didn't respond.

"Come on, Liet. Cheer up? Please?"

He sighed, then gave me a sad sort of smile. "Alright." The engines to the buses started up. "You'd better get on."

"Psh. Relax! I'm already right here!" As I got on, I turned around and waved. "Like, see ya tomorrow, Liet!" The next words just rolled off my tongue. "Love ya!"

Right before the doors to the bus closed, I saw Liet's face turn a solid shade of hot pink.

"F-Feliks! Don't just go tossing words like that around!"

But...

...he was smiling.

**I hope you enjoyed that. ^^" It was a bit rushed.**

**Review.  
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	8. That Outburst

_Alright, here's your new chapter. I'm sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoy~._

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><p><em>POV: Toris<em>

_Love ya.  
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My gosh. How can Feliks say those words so casually?

'Love' is a word reserved for people you care about deeply! You don't just say it to a friend like that!

...Right?

"Liet! Helloooooo! Earth to Liet!"

"Huh? I'm sorry, Feliks. What were you saying?"

The Pole crossed his arms and pouted. "Well I _said _I was going to Poland next week and that I _might _bring you back something for a Christmas gift. But seeing that you don't care-"

"Wait! Wait! I do care! I was just spacing out!"

Feliks just rolled his eyes. "Liet."

"Yes?"

"Do me a favor."

I looked at him curiously. Feliks needs a favor? "What is it?"

Feliks flashed me a mega-watt smile that only he could pull off. "Try not to get in, like, too much trouble without me."

Monday before winter break...

I can do this...

I weaved through the idle crowds in the hallway as usual. I made it to homeroom with extra time to spare, so I pulled out a book.

A week without Feliks... I can handle it. I've survived years without Feliks.

"Hey, fag. Where's your tranny friend?" I recognized the sneering voice of Bradford, the one who put garbage in my jacket.

If I just ignore him, he'll go away...

"Did he ditch you? That's _so _sad! Even the tranny thinks you're a freak!"

Ignore him, Toris...

"Left you the first chance he had-"

"Quiet..."

"I bet he went off to find some other faggot to fu-"

I stood up abruptly and slammed my palms onto the table with a white-hot fury I'd never felt before. "FELIKS ISN'T LIKE THAT!"

The room went silent. I could feel the stares of my confused classmates who thought 'The fag's gone insane.' I didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the boy who insulted my best friend.

He may have been a head shorter than me and not have much muscle on him, but he gave me a glare than instantly replaced my fury with fear. He gave me a glare that reminded me that he was friends with the wrestling team and that he wasn't afraid to use them against me again.

"_What was that?_" he snapped.

I tried to maintain some backbone as I stuttered out my response. "F-Feliks isn't l-l-like t-that..."

Judging by the smirk he was giving me, I was going to regret my little outburst later...

This is going to be a long week...

**I'm so so so sorry that I hadn't updated this sooner, I had writer's block for this and... sorry!**

**Um... review, please!  
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	9. That Gift

_I'm sorry for this._

_I don't own Hetalia._

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><p><em>POV: Feliks<em>

So, it was January and we were stuck back in school.

Ugh.

Same old classrooms. Same old jerks. Same old semi-edible lunch under the peach tree.

Oh well. At least Liet was there to make it less boring.

And since my flight back was delayed, he could help me with the makeup work I _know_ I'm going be stuck doing.

I wonder if he got me a Christmas gift. Because I, like, totally went out of the way to get him one of those expensive, made-for-tourists, toy dragons for him. In my own _hometown_ no less!

Ugh, don't get me started on what Santa got me. He totally forgot my pony this year again.

Anyways, when I saw Liet, well the back of him, at his locker, I nearly jumped him. "Hiya, Liet!"

He didn't turn around to face me. "Hi, Feliks. How was your time in Poland?"

"It was _fabulous! _The weather was perfect, all the clothes I got were gorgeous, and you should have seen what my cousin did at the Christmas party..." I pouted when he still didn't turn around. "Uh, Liet? Don't you know it's rude not to look at someone when they're talking to you?"

He just stood there like a statue, so I started to go in front of him. His hands flew up to cover his face.

Huh?

"Liet? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Um... it's sorta of embarrassing..." he answered.

Was it like a zit or something?

I crossed my arms. "Liet. We sit next to each other for half the day. I'm going to see it eventually."

He sighed and let his arms fall to his side.

His eye was black and swollen.

They didn't...

"Oh my _gosh, _that's one hell of a shiner! What happened?"

With his good eye, he looked away from from me and to the floor. "I...I tripped the day we got back and one of my books hit me in the eye."

Liet's a horrible liar.

'Book to the eye' my ass.

"Hey, Liet-"

And then the bell rang. Timing, you suck.

"Let's get to class, Feliks."

I followed him to the classroom without a word.

It wasn't until lunch that I actually got to talk to Liet again.

Out under our peach tree, with the sunlight on his pale skin, the black eye stuck out more. It was less appealing than the trash can.

Liet ducked his head. "Stop staring at me like that..."

Aw, crap. I was totally staring, wasn't I?

"Look, Liet, I'm sorry. Just, about your eye-"

Liet turned around and reached into his backpack. "Feliks, I got you something." He had a warm smile on his face as he pulled whatever it was out.

Oh my gawd. He _didn't_.

He totally did.

This man got me a pony.

That's it. I now name Liet the greatest guy ever.

_Ever._

The stuffed pony makes your argument invalid.

I wrapped my arms around him and gave him the biggest hug possible. "OMG, this is like the greatest gift ever and you're so awesome for getting me this and you like win the friend of the year award and did I mention thanks because this is like-"

"Ow ow ow! Feliks! My back! Get off! Please!"

I stopped hugging him and rubbed the back of my neck. "Whoops. Sorry."

He gave me a pained smile. "It's fine."

"That reminds me, I got you something too." I pulled out the stuffed dragon toy.

It was a silly looking toy, really. A cartoony looking dragon with stubby little arms, a red hat sewed into its head, and the word 'Kraków' across the stomach.

But the look that Liet had on his face when he saw it was hilarious and adorable at the same time. He looked like he was about to hug me back with ten times more force.

"I got it for you since you, like, read a lot of fantasy stuff."

He was just staring at it with the same hilarious/adorable face, so I reached over with my arm and made the snout of the stuffed dragon brush his black eye. Then I started making kissy noises.

"Gah! Feliks! What are you doing?" he laughed.

"I'm Smoky the dragon and I'm, like, trying to make your eye all better," I said in a silly voice that I thought totally suited the thing.

Liet was laughing. "Oh my gosh, Feliks that's so..." He couldn't even finish.

He rarely laughs, so I'm going to make it last as long as possible.

"Lieeeet! C'mere and let me kiss your boo-boo better!"

"Hahaha! No, Smoky! I don't need you to kiss it better!"

"Come on! You know you want to!"

**OMG, I made this so fluffy I'm gonna die. XD**

**Anyways, uh, yeah, the name 'Smoky' comes from the the Polish word for dragon '_smok_'.  
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**Don't worry, I have a lot planned for this fic.  
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**Review, please. ^^  
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	10. That Visit

_This is sorta a filler chapter._

_I don't own anything._

* * *

><p>POV:<em> Toris<em>

It was mid-January the day I went to Feliks' house for the first time.

He had just invited me out of the blue. I wasn't even entirely he had asked me when I stammered out a yes.

My mother had even approved of it. Saying she was 'so proud to see [me] acting so social again.'

Feliks' bus was much less crowded than mine, but it was much more... chaotic.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

"Take cover," Feliks said in exasperation as he curled up in his seat.

"Huh?"

I felt something small and hard hit the back of my head and stick to my hair. Feliks pushed my head so it was below the top of the bus seat. Then he pulled whatever hit me out of my hair.

It was a _filthy _lollipop.

"I told you." He tossed the lollipop to the small garbage can at the front of the bus.

"I should listen to you more often," I said jokingly.

Feliks let out a fake dramatic gasp. "I thought you _always _listened to me!"

I laughed as the bus came to a stop. It stopped outside a small, wealthy neighborhood. I call it 'wealthy' for several reasons. I can see that the houses are newly built (a minute detail I noticed after years of living in the area; newer houses tended to have paler colors). There was a camera looming over the entrance. Occasionally, there was a screen surrounding the area behind a house, so some of them had pools. Rare for this state, I've heard.

"Here's our stop, Liet." He stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Come on."

It took 5 minutes to walk to Feliks' house. The inside was bigger than I was used to, but oddly homey. Also, a blonde woman, whom I assumed was Feliks' mother, immediately came to greet us at the door.

"Feliks! Welcome home!" she said in a thick Polish accent. She noticed me and smiled. "Who's this?"

"Liet, this is mom. Mom, meet Liet."

I held out a hand and tried my best not to look nervous. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Lukasiewicz."

She laughed as she squeezed my hand. "So you're the famous Liet! You're just as polite as Feliks says you are!"

I felt an odd, unfamiliar feeling creep up on me. What was it? Embarrassment? Flattery? Joy? "Feliks talks about me?"

Her smile got wider. "It's a task just to get him to _stop _talking about you!"

Feliks started blushing. "Mom!"

It would be an understatement to call this funny.

"I'm just teasing."

"Yeah, me and Liet are just going to hang out in my room." He nearly shoved me towards the stairs.

Mrs. Lukasiewicz whispered something loudly into Feliks' ear. However, it was in Polish, so the only clue as to what she said was in the playful glint in her eye.

Feliks stammered something back in Polish. My only clues there was the flustered tone and the fact that is his face was completely red.

After he almost threw me into a room upstairs, I asked him, "What was that about?"

He flailed his arms around and tried to smile. "N-Nothing! My mom's totally crazy! Hahaha! Now, uh, you wanna play? Yeah, like, let's go!"

Before I could register the rushed jumble of words, Feliks grabbed my wrist and dragged me to a pair of double doors.

"What's this?"

He opened the doors and waved towards the inside. "My closet!"

There were bright colors and sparkles everywhere. There were jackets, shirts of all different kinds, every type of pants imaginable, hats, gloves, stockings, mini-skirts... I didn't question the last one; I'd already seen Feliks wear a few whenever he was in a pleasant mood. The closet was huge. My room could probably fit inside.

"Oh my..."

"Isn't it, like, fab?"

I could only nod.

"Pick an outfit you like!"

I started blushing. "W-What?"

"We're, like, playing dress up," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Oh no... Oh no, oh no, oh no!

I couldn't play _that_ with Feliks!

What if he saw my back? What if he starts worrying and I ruin his good mood?

This is _bad_. Way to ruin your first time in someone's house in years, Toris...

"Hey, Liet," Feliks said with a concerned look on his face. "If you're shy, you can always change in the closet. It has a light switch."

"Uh... T-Thanks." I was so relieved.

He took my wrist and dragged me around the closet to pick an outfit. After several minutes of looking through clothes, he handed me a small pile. It was a pair of black pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a vest.

The moment I walked out, I heard a high pitch squeal. "OMG, LIET, YOU LOOK, LIKE, SO CUTE!"

"Ow, my ear."

"Sorry."

I noticed that Feliks changed too. He was in a sweater and a miniskirt. "How do I look?"

Like a girl. "...Great?"

"Good! Next!" He picked up another pile and started leading me back to the closet.

Suddenly, I felt a cloth slip under my foot and I fell to the ground... landing on my back.

I hissed out in pain. Feliks helped me to my feet.

"I... I'm fine..." I gasped out.

Feliks had his hands on my shoulders. "...Liet."

His tone was too serious for just a little fall.

"Yes?"

"Can you..." he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. "Can you, like, tell me who did it?"

I blinked in confusion. "Who did what?"

Then it hit me.

The injuries. Of course Feliks must have seen them.

"...Your back..."

I looked away from his stricken face. I tried to focus my sight on something. _Anything _but the face of my best friend. "I don't know what you're talking about... All I did was fall."

"Don't lie, Liet!" he shouted. "Who did it?"

I can't...

I shook my head. I felt my throat tighten.

"Liet! Please! Can you tell me who did it?"

I could do more than tell him who did it. I can identify them by full name, by face, tell him their schedule after memorizing which classes to be cautious in, and list their crimes. "I can't."

"Why not?"

They hate snitches.

They'd hurt you too. I'm not worth that.

You'd end up like me. "I just can't."

At that moment, the door opened. Mrs. Lukasiewicz was holding a large plate of snacks. She stopped in the doorway, staring at us.

It was at that moment that we remember how closely we were standing together.

"It's a little soon for that, isn't it, Feliks?"

Feliks' face turned red again. "M-MOM!"

Hours later...

The sun was setting and my mother was waiting outside in the car.

I had said my goodbyes and was about to cross the front lawn, but Feliks stopped me.

"Hey...um... Liet? I'm, like, sorry about earlier."

"It's fine." You were just the only person to show concern in years.

"Are you sure? Cuz, I, like-"

"Feliks, it's fine." I smiled at him. "You were just being a good friend." I hear my mom honk the horn, bluntly telling me to hurry up. "B-Bye."

"Bye, Liet. Love ya."

Again with those words. He shouldn't throw them around!

I got into the car and Mother immediately sped away.

"So..." she said boredly. "Who was this again?"

"My friend, Feliks."

"You said it was a boy, right?" She must have seen the mini-skirt.

"Yes."

She had poorly-disguised disgust on her face. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Why does she always sound accusing when she asks that question? What answer does she want me to say?

"I want him to visit."

She sighed. "Anything _else _you want to tell me?"

"No."

**I'm sorry if there's too much Mood Whiplash in here. To make up for it, I made this chapter longer.**

**Review, please.  
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	11. That Word

_I apologize if some find this chapter confusing._

_To the reviewer who asked if I'd ever pulled a lollipop out of my hair: the bus scene was based off one of the few times I dared ride in the back of the bus. The lollipop was mostly dried up, had several dust-bunnies stuck to it, it was only a little Dum Dum Pop, and it only stuck to the end of a few hairs. So, yeah, it was a little of both.  
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_By the way, the description of Toris' house is based off the house I had in that place.  
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_I don't own Hetalia._

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><p><em>POV: Feliks<em>

I totally get to see Liet's house today! Yaaaay!

I swear, the noises I made when he invited me!

I had to ride his bus. Which, like, sucked. Every seat on that bus was filled and _every person _on that bus was talking at the same time. I couldn't even hear _myself _talk!

I almost ran out when Liet said it was his stop.

Liet's neighborhood was on a hill. Like, there was a little cul-de-sac that was downhill from his bus-stop. Beyond the cul-de-sac was a canal, and beyond the canal was a forest. Actually, from this spot you can see more cul-de-sacs and the rest of the neighborhood all spread out on this hill.

"Let's go, Feliks. My house is this way."

We walked down until we were in front of house that was, like, _at _the bottom. It was a white house with two stories and a tree in the front yard. Liet pulled out a key and lead me inside.

The main hall had, like, high ceilings and a glass chandelier. The stairs were on the left, and you could see part of the hallway upstairs like a balcony. The first floor had: a den, a sitting room so you could see the front lawn and part of the neighborhood uphill, a dining room, the kitchen, door to the basement (which Liet said was unfinished since, like, before he moved there), a back door to the actual balcony (which had stairs to the backyard even more downhill), a tiny bathroom, and a closet.

But it was, like, empty feeling.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "My parents are working. They won't come back until six."

But it was, like, 2:40. He was stuck here alone for 3 hours? I would be bored.

"Hm? Why are you looking at me like that, Feliks?"

"Oh nothing. Can we, like, see your room now?"

"Sure." He led me to the only room on the left side of the hall upstairs. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I know this isn't much compared to what you're used to but... it's home."

His room was small and golden-colored. It didn't have any decorations in it: just the bed, bedside table, tv, a Wii, and dresser. The most in the room was Smoky sitting on the bed.

"Nah, Liet. It's cute."

He smiled. "T-Thanks."

A few hours later...

I was totally getting my ass kicked by Liet in MarioKart.

"Crap crap crap crap crap!"

"Haha! Catch me if you can, Feliks!"

"I activate Poland's Rule!" Poland's Rule means that any Pole in the game wins. For, like, ever.

Liet''s eyes widened as he looked at the screen. "How did you get a blue shell right after you said that?"

Never doubt Poland's Rule, my friend.

Toad got blown sky-high onscreen while Toadette just zoomed past him. First place popped up in my half of the screen.

I jumped up and did a victory dance."AW YEAH! I WON! WOOHOO!"

I felt something wooden brush against my hand during the victory dance. I stopped when I saw Liet jump and do a dive to catch whatever I knocked off the table.

"Oops."

Liet examined the thing, then sighed. "It's fine, Feliks." He placed it back on the table.

It was a photo.

In the middle of the photo was a mini-Liet smiling at the camera. To the right was a kid with glasses and a little boy who looked like he was about to wet himself. To the left was this big kid in a scarf that gave off the impression of a killer snowman. And next to the Snowman was this grouchy looking girl.

"Who're they?" I asked.

Hey, I was, like, curious. It's not everyday you see someone do a dive to save a photo from a _carpet _floor.

Liet looked at me with a curious look before his face split into a wide grin. His forest green eyes lit up the brightest I'd ever seen them. "They... They're my childhood friends, from back when I lived in Lithuania."

He started pointing to each of them. He pointed at the little one first. "This is Raivis. He was always sort of timid. I remember how he used to look up to me and Eduard," the glasses boy, "like we were older brothers." He pointed at Snowman. "This is Ivan. We've known each other since... well, as long as I could remember." Then he pointed at the girl. He started blushing. "And N-Natalia..."

Wait, why was he blushing? It was just a girl-

Ohhhhhhh! "You like her, don't you!"

Now his blush spread. "N-No! I mean! Not that much anymore! Don't grin at me like that, Feliks! It was years ago, I was 10! And she was nice!"

I felt sorta jealous of this Natalia girl. She has, like, an awesome guy like Liet liking her.

...

Wait a minute.

_Liet _likes _her._

_Liet._

Didn't Liet prefer guys?

"Uh... Liet?"

That's what everyone teases him about, right?

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

They can't be beating him for nothing, right?

"Go ahead."

"Aren't you...?" No. I can't just bluntly ask him.

"What is it, Feliks?" he asked curiously.

"Nevermind. I totally forgot," I lied.

Liet laughed a little. "Come on, Feliks. You can ask me anything."

Aw, screw it.

"Aren't you supposed to be gay?"

Just like that.

Just like _that_, Liet's eyes went dull.

"...W-What...?" he asked in a broken voice. "W-Why would you... c-call me t-that...?"

What was wrong? It was just a little question.

"...I-I t-thought we w-were... f..." His voice was too broken to finish the sentence. There were tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He buried his face in his hands.

He started _sobbing._

_I made my best friend **cry.**  
><em>

Crap crap crap crap crap crap.

What did I do? _What did I do?_

"Liet! Liet! Calm down!" He didn't react to me. I grasped him by the shoulders and shook him a bit. "_Toris! _Listen to me!"

He looked up at me. Like the first day I met him, his eyes were dull and calculating. Except now, with the tears in his eyes, his emotions were practically presented to me on a platter.

Hurt. Betrayal. Disbelief. Shock. Sadness. Fear.

'He's going to beat me up too'. 'I thought we were friends'. 'Why would you call me that word?'

"Toris..." I said quietly. My own voice was shaking. "T-Toris, I'm _so sorry _I asked that. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just an innocent question."

He looked down at the ground. "T-There's nothing _innocent _about _that _word," his voice was full of venom. "That's what _they _call me. Mom said that it's disgusting to even be _associated _with _that_ word."

I felt a huge sadness wash over me.

What were they teaching him?

"Do you even know what it means?" I asked.

He wiped the tears from his eyes. "Only that it's an insult."

I sighed. "Look, it means-"

It was then that we heard the front door open.

Liet's eyes widened and he wiped the tears from them more roughly. "Feliks. Don't mention a word of that to my mother."

"But it's just-"

"_Please!_" he pleaded.

That got me to listen to him.

The door to the room opened up. Standing in the doorway was a woman with long brown hair and blue eyes. She was in a business suit and she seemed professional.

And like a total ice queen.

"I'm home, Tor-" She stopped short when she looked at me. "Oh? Who's..." she took a while to examine me, "this?"

We both stood up. Liet presented me. "Mom, this is the friend I mentioned. His name is Feliks."

I reached out a hand. "Nice to meet you..." I thought for a moment. "Ma'am."

She stretched out a slim hand and shook mine.

And by shook, I mean lightly squeezed my hand with the tips of her fingers for half a second.

"Nice to finally meet Toris' little... friend." She said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

I didn't like her.

I didn't like _anyone _who could cause Toris to be scared of a simple word like that.

**Rushed and poorly written but done.**

**Review, please.  
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	12. Those Memories

_This is incredibly hard to write, but needs to be in the plot. Another mainly memory-based chapter. Sorry, Toris. I'm probably going to have to get used to the 'You made me cry!' reviews before I post this, or I'm going to cry too.  
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_Also, I would like to apologize if I'm portraying the characters incorrectly or if it's unclear.  
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_(Reads a review as I'm typing this chapter out that pretty much asks if I'm going to write what happens here) Do we have a clairvoyant here, I'm just that predictable, or just a weird coincidence? I don't know.  
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_I don't own anything._

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><p>POV:<em> Toris<em>

The clock said four.

I had woken up before the alarm clock today.

Because it was February 2nd.

It was _that _day.

The day I moved away from Lithuania. The day I moved to this nightmare of a city.

Happy Anniversary, worthless.

I sighed and stared at the photo beside my bed. A photo taken February 1st, years ago.

Did they miss me? Did they care still? Do any of them even remember my name anymore?

Probably not.

I still remember them though.

Every year, whether I wanted to or not, I would get reminded of them.

_January of 5th grade...  
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_"T...Toris is moving away?"  
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_"Yes. I'm sorry, guys."  
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_I looked down at the floor. My mother had told me that we were moving to America in February. I was terrified, because all that my 10-year-old mind could process was 'You can't see your friends again.'  
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_I felt Ivan wrap his arms around me, like I was a teddy bear someone was about to steal. "Nooo! I want my little Toris to stay here with me! You can stay in my house!"  
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_"Sorry, Ivan, but I don't think Mama would let me stay in another country alone."  
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_"But you won't be alone, you'll have us!"  
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_I looked out to the faces of my best friends. They looked like they were about to cry. Even Ivan had tears in his eyes. Ivan seldom cries.  
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_I gave them what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "It'll be fine, guys. Let's just enjoy what time we have left."  
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_February 1st...  
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_I was trudging through the snow toward Ivan's house.  
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_I thought I would give him one last visit before I left...  
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_Before I could make it though, I saw his big sister running towards me.  
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_"Toris!" she said as she approached.  
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_"Hi, Katyusha."  
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_"Would you like to take a walk with me?"  
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_I wanted to say no, because I really wanted to visit Ivan. Well... One last walk around couldn't hurt much.  
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_"Sure."  
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_For a while, the only sound in the air was the sound of the snow crunching beneath our boots. It was broken when we were standing outside of Ivan's house. Katyusha put a hand on my shoulder and asked, "Are you nervous?"  
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_The response was quick. "Terrified."  
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_She gave me a smile that I distinctly remembered as motherly. "It will be fine. You're a sweet boy. You'll make plenty of friends over there."  
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_"H...How do you know?"  
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_"I don't. But we can hope that you do."  
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_When she opened the door, I heard of a chorus of 'Surprise!'. Ivan, Eduard, Raivis, and Natalia were standing in a half-circle. Over their heads was a banner that said 'Happy Birthday'. In Ivan's hands was a cake that said 'Farewell Toris. We'll miss you.'  
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_I felt my face heat up. "Wha... What's all this?"  
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_"We wanted to surprise you," Eduard explained.  
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_"So we threw you a farewell party," Ivan added.  
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_"It's also your b-birthday party since we won't be able to-" Ivan elbowed Raivis hard enough to knock him to the floor.  
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_"T-T-This..." My voice was shaking and my throat tightened. "T-This is so s-sweet..."  
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_We reminisced.  
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_We laughed.  
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_We cried together. _

_And they gave me gifts.  
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_"Here." Eduard gave me a notebook. "So you can be a writer like you said you wanted to be."  
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_Raivis held out an address book. "S-So you can still send us l-letters."  
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_Natalia had groaned and looked at Ivan. "Do I have to, Brother?"  
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_"Yes, Natalia. Please?" Ivan gave a puppy-face.  
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_She finally crossed her arms, leaned over, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  
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_I felt my face flush. She kissed me! She actually kissed me!  
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_Then Ivan walked up to me, too fast to see what was in his hands, and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I felt a warm, soft fabric wrap around my neck as well.  
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_It was a scarf.  
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_Ivan gave me a tearful smile and tugged at his own scarf. "It's so you can remember me by."  
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_February 2nd...  
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_If there was anything in my memory that I remember clearly, it was that morning.  
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_"Toris. It's time to go."  
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_Everything just stopped.  
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_Pencils stopped scratching against paper. The teacher stopped her history lecture. Every pair of eyes in the room were directed towards me. And my face went blank.  
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_I wordlessly slipped all of my things into my backpack. I walked over to the door where my mother was waiting for me.  
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_I turned around and took one last look around. _

_Stunned. Sad. Indifferent. Those were most of the faces I saw.  
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_The last face I saw was Ivan's.  
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_His violet eyes were filled with tears.  
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_Heartbreak.  
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_My last word was simple. It was the only thing my blank mind could think of to say.  
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_"Bye."  
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_It wasn't until I was out in the hallway that I let the tears fall.  
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_Valentine's Day...  
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_"Class, this is Toris Laurinaitis. He's the new student I said we would be getting. Do you have any questions for him?"  
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_I was shaking. I was nervous. _

_Nothing was familiar. Not even the trees outside were familiar. Not the language. Not the faces. Nothing.  
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_And they were all staring at me.  
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_One girl raised her hand. "How come his name's so weird?"  
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_Weird? How was my name weird?  
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_"He's from Lithuania."  
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_A boy raised his hand. "He **does **speak English, right?"  
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_"Y-Yes," I answered in a heavy accent.  
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_My English was shaky at best.  
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_"How do you say 'hi' in whatever language you talk in?"  
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_"L...Labas."  
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_"Where is Lithuania anyways?"  
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_"Is it cold there? 'Cause you got a scarf on."  
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_"Are you the only new kid we're getting all year?"  
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_"Can we just pass out the Valentine's cards already?"  
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_At that question, they immediately lost interest in me. They all stared at the teacher with pleading eyes asking if they could pass out the cards and candy.  
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_I tugged at the teacher's sleeve and asked where I should sit. She directed me to the only empty seat left, which was in the front row.  
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_I was confused at the small pink card, that had a Disney character, dropped onto my desk.  
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_A small pink card addressed to 'New Kid'.  
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_March...  
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_"M-My scarf!" I hiccuped in between sobs._ "_H-Have you seen my scarf anywhere?!"_

_The several boys sneered down at me. "What are you crying about? It's just a stupid scarf."  
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_"B-But m-my friend Ivan gave it t-to me..."  
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_"Stop being such a crybaby!"  
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_"'Wah wah! I lost my scarf!'" one of them laughed.  
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_I never did find that scarf...  
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_August of 6th grade...  
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_I was going to middle school that year._

_Everything was still unfamiliar. _

_Though there were some things still similar to the elementary school. One or two vaguely familiar faces. All the school books were still covered in peaches. The work was still easy.  
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_And I was still the shy little kid from Lithuania.  
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_I was still nervous of all the stares I was attracting.  
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_When we finally got a bathroom break, everyone else stood against the wall beside a vending machine. I stood on the other side of it, so they couldn't stare anymore.  
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_Then three girls were standing over me. The one in the middle looked like the leader, like how 'popular girls' always looked on TV. I looked up at their prim faces. They were looking down **on** me, not just **at** me.  
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_"You're so retarded," the leader said. The other girls smirked at the confused look on my face. I heard giggling as they walked away.  
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_I tilted my head in confusion.  
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_Retarded?  
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_That was first time hearing that word.  
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_I was eleven years old. English wasn't my first language. I had a rather sheltered childhood.  
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_But even then I knew I was insulted.  
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_And just an hour later, the same sort of thing happened.  
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_It was lunch.  
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_There was nothing appetizing... So I just grabbed an apple.  
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_We had assigned tables, so my class sat at one of the long tables. Half of the table was empty. I sat closer to the empty side. _

_Because it was so loud in the lunchroom. I could barely hear myself think. I wanted to be in the one spot where it was quieter.  
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_I pulled out a book and took a bite out of my apple.  
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_That's when I heard it.  
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_Just over the din, I heard it.  
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_"So **gay**."_

_I looked up from my book and looked down at the crowded end of the table.  
><em>

_I couldn't tell who said it.  
><em>

_Though there was this one boy. He had dark skin and he was shorter than me. I think his name was Bradford.  
><em>

_He was glaring right at me.  
><em>

_I was insulted again.  
><em>

_I didn't know what the words meant, but I knew they did.  
><em>

_I was mad.  
><em>

_What did I ever do to them? Nothing, that's what.  
><em>

_And they insult me.  
><em>

_I was frustrated. But I couldn't scold them, it would look silly.  
><em>

_So, I decided to let out in the most harmless way possible.  
><em>

_Through drawing a picture.  
><em>

_Except...  
><em>

_I hadn't meant for the picture to fall off my desk and get stolen.  
><em>

_I hadn't wanted for them to see it.  
><em>

_September...  
><em>

_I was looking for my books.  
><em>

_I had left the room to go to the bathroom for 5 minutes and all of the stuff on my desk was gone. Now the class was over and I was crouched down over the corner full of backpacks looking for them.  
><em>

_Several of the students walking by me and to their class started giggling.  
><em>

_"That Toris Laurinaitis?"  
><em>

_"Yup."  
><em>

_"Hm. Just what I expected."  
><em>

_January...  
><em>

_The beatings started.  
><em>

_At first it was subtle, with just simple bruising punches to my arms in the hallways. Then they would grab me then drag me off somewhere secluded where no teachers could save me.  
><em>

_When I came to school the next day with a black eye or a broken arm, nobody would acknowledge it.  
><em>

_I tried telling the teachers. They responded that I had no proof against the boys who did it. A few of the male teachers said that 'it's a part of growing up. You have to endure it.'  
><em>

_Everyone here goes through blatant torture?  
><em>

_That's terrible.  
><em>

_February 2nd...  
><em>

_A year.  
><em>

_I had been there for a year.  
><em>

_It felt like longer.  
><em>

_I was in Social Studies class when I let my mind wander. The teacher was talking about different religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. She was saying how the good and bad things we do in one life affect us in the next reincarnation.  
><em>

_I remembered the laughing I used to do with my friends.  
><em>

_The farewell party.  
><em>

_My last look at Ivan.  
><em>

_"Mrs. Smith, Toris is crying."  
><em>

_I didn't care. The only thing I was thinking of was:  
><em>

_**What did I do to deserve this?**  
><em>

_March...  
><em>

_I started daydreaming and imagining a lot.  
><em>

_Things like 'Would these people even notice if I just disappeared one day?' and 'If I were reincarnated, would the new me remember all this or would I just do this all over again?' and even started imagining a list of ways I could die.  
><em>

_The cleavers in the kitchen? Not enough nerve. Drown in the bathtub? No, that would just leave a mess and a big water bill afterward. Balcony? ...Tempting.  
><em>

_I didn't know what suicide was back then, but even I knew something was wrong with a twelve-year-old having these thoughts.  
><em>

_April...  
><em>

_We were assigned group research projects about scientists.  
><em>

_When my group was looking things up on the computer, they saw a line that made all of them burst out laughing.  
><em>

_One of them was pointing at a line that said '_Sexuality: Straight'.

_I didn't know what it meant yet, since I hadn't taken health class. So I tilted my head in confusion. "What's so funny?"_

_That made them laugh even harder. "Of course the gay kid doesn't get it!"  
><em>

_I felt the undertones of an insult again.  
><em>

_So I asked my mother when she picked me up.  
><em>

_"Mama, what does gay mean?"  
><em>

_The tires screeched to a near halt at the words. I was nearly flung forward. Her foot had slammed onto the brakes. This road was nearly empty, thankfully, but Mom nearly went off the road.  
><em>

_When she regained some composure, she looked at me with wide eyes full of shock... and slight disgust.  
><em>

_Disgust that I, sadly, recognized in many of my classmates.  
><em>

_"W-What? Toris, where did you learn that word?"  
><em>

_"The kids at school called me that," I said matter-of-factually. "What does it mean?"  
><em>

_She looked relieved for some reason. She gave me a smile that didn't reach her eyes and patted my head. "_It's a bad thing. Don't worry about it. Just ignore them."_  
><em>

__I never looked up the word. Afraid of what it would say.  
><em>_

_By 8th grade, I stopped trying to stop them.  
><em>

_By 9th grade, I started to believe the harsh words actually described who I was.  
><em>

_By 10th grade, I lost hope.  
><em>

_By the November of 11th grade, I grew accustomed to the treatment and was fully expecting to go through it until I graduated.  
><em>

_Until a timid new student with a feminine appearance and a masculine voice changed that.  
><em>

I wiped the tears out of my eyes.

I couldn't stand here walking down memory lane, I had school to get to.

I finished getting ready, walked out to the balcony, and locked the door behind me. Just like I did every morning.

I looked over the edge and to the ground about a dozen feet below.

I realized a long time ago that if I were to jump off, it would merely break a limb or my spine. Then I would be a cripple and make things worse.

It was still tempting at times though.

But I couldn't really think like that anymore.

I had someone waiting for me.

**Well, this came out longer than I expected.**

**Review, please.  
><strong>


	13. That Day

_Welp, I officially can't top last chapter in terms of emotional levels. As I said last chapter, sorry Toris._

_Now as for the reason why it started... you never really get a reason, do you? Well, at least I didn't directly get a reason, I had to observe and figure out for myself the reason why I 'deserve' it. Usually it starts over a something small. Some minor difference like 'They're fat' or 'They're ugly' or 'They're a homo' or 'They're a weirdo who reads novels for fun' or even 'They read those Japanese comics, that makes them a gay pervert'. Always starts over something small like that. But as time passes, they start adding and making up reasons. Reasons like 'She looks so stupid when she gets mad, it's hilarious' or 'They're a pushover, they'll like you get away with it' and 'They started it'. Honestly, giving someone hell doesn't have a valid reason.  
><em>

_You could say Toris' torment started in 3 steps (in the August of 6th grade). First was his personality, too docile and timid, makes him come off as 'weird' to the kids in his school. It also makes him an easy target. In a school, one gets detention/suspended/expelled/arrested if he fights off his bully; Toris doesn't like getting in trouble. Second was the fact that he was reading alone at lunch. Sitting alone at lunch was practically a freakin' billboard that said 'HE DOESN'T HAVE BACKUP'. Also, the book in his lap, instead of a cellphone. He's in an area where that's almost unheard of. And lastly, he provoked them. With the venting picture. To the bullies, they thought they barely did anything and that this little weirdo is drawing a picture of something bad happening to them (as to what, use your innocent imagination). To put it bluntly: it pissed them off.  
><em>

_By the way, has anyone tried to guess where they are yet? I thought the peaches would be enough of a hint. (To the people who figured it out and are from that state... I'm sorry I ended up in the area that would leave a terrible impression.)  
><em>

_To answer .Vocaloid: Day of Silence is usually in April. I heard for 2013, it will be on the 19th. Toris' birthday is on February 16th, so he'll be turning 17 soon. Feliks had turned 16 before he moved. As for what Feliks' Mom said, it was something along the lines of 'Congrats, dear, he looks like a keeper!'. Feliks responded something like 'I-It's not like that! Like, cut it out!'  
><em>

_I'm sorry, this Author's Note came out a lot longer than I expected. I don't own Hetalia._

* * *

><p>POV<em>: Feliks<br>_

Today was February 2nd.

I was half-expecting candles everywhere, not these weird-little-mole-things.

No, seriously, when I got to school this morning, they were, like, _everywhere._

I asked a teacher and she explained it was 'Groundhog's Day'. Apparently it's the American way of picking whether it's winter or spring.

I thought it was weird. You're really gonna use a little mole-thing who's scared of his own shadow to pick a season? What if it's raining and it doesn't see it 'til there's _lightning_?

And why a groundhog? Why is it even _called _a groundhog? It's coming _out _of the ground and it looks nothing like a hog, so what the heck?

These were the things I was discussing with Liet during first period.

But Liet wasn't really reacting much. He would just nod and say 'Uh-huh' like a robot.

"Hey, Liet, are you, like, okay?"

He just nodded and didn't look at me. "Uh-huh."

"Liet, don't lie. I can totally tell when you're upset, now tell me what's wrong."

He looked up at me. His eyes were just empty. "It's nothing. It's just the day, that's all."

I was about to ask what was wrong when the bell rang for second period.

I swear, that thing rings at _the worst _times _ever._

Then we were off to Biology.

Not exactly my favorite class because the teacher was a bit... like... blunt.

"I have _never_ been so disappointed in a class in my _entire_ teaching career until I met this one!" she said fiercely. "And you seriously call yourselves juniors? Because y'all certainly don't _act _like juniors!"

By that, I mean, she could stand to swallow entire pack of chill-pills once in a while because _my gosh _can she be bitchy.

She usually gave us these 'morning pep talks', but today seemed to have extra bite to it. Everyone was dead-quiet.

"Y'all are pathetic!" she continued. "All of you are failing this class! _All _of you! Do you have any idea of how _sad _that is?"

Well it can't be sadder than the fact that you forgot that Liet has an A in this class.

Despite having the highest grade in the class, Liet was the only one with his head down on the desk and covered by his arms. He wasn't asleep though; I could hear him sobbing softly. I vaguely wondered why _he _was crying when he hadn't done anything wrong.

The teacher thought otherwise.

"_Toris!_" she snapped. She approached his desk and put her hands on her hips. "I _know _you're not sleeping in the middle of my class!"

"N-No, ma'am..." he answered weakly.

"Then get your head off the damn desk." When she saw his tear-stained face, she seemed to get even angrier. "That's right, you _should _cry! You brought this upon yourself. You deserve _everything _you get."

As she walked away, she didn't notice him put his face in his hands and sob harder. I saw small puddles of tears start forming on his desk. I heard him mumbling 'I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry' over and over.

Why couldn't that _bitch _notice that she was, like, practically breaking him?

I poked him, tried to get him attention. "Liet! Liiiet!" I whispered. He wasn't reacting. "Liet! Toris! Listen to me!"

Slowly he turned his head. He looked like he could collapse at any moment. "Y-Yes?"

"She's lying, you didn't do _anything_ to deserve that. Everything will be fine, okay? I promise." I tried to lighten the mood. "And if not, I'll ride Pony to school until graduation day."

His eyes were still empty disks of green, but he at least half-smiled at my joke.

"All of you get up," the meanest-teacher-ever said. "I'm moving your seats. Get to the back of the room."

We all went to the back and stood in what would have been a line if there had less of us. So it was more like a clump of kids standing together. Liet and I were in the very back along with big guy with freckles.

The teacher started looking for her new seating chart and several students got bored, like, fast.

I heard a small gasp beside me.

It was from Liet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liet looking panicked. The freckled kid had grabbed Liet's wrist and was forcing his hand to inch closer to the ass of a guy in front of them. Liet was shaking his head and tears were threatening to spill again. The freckled kid was smirking.

How come the teacher didn't _see _this?

"Come on, fag, you should enjoy this."

Why was nobody _stopping _this?

"N-No... No...!"

I grabbed Freckles' wrist and stopped him before he could force Toris to do anything. I pried my friend's arm from his fingers.

Toris turned around and pulled me close to him. He was hugging me tightly. He was gripping the fabric of my shirt like a lifeline. He sobbed into my shoulder.

I gently hugged him back and gave the nastiest look I could muster at Freckles. "What is _wrong _with you?" I asked.

I pulled Toris out of the hug and put an arm around his shoulders. I led him to the door. I totally didn't care that everyone was staring.

"And _where_ do you think y'all are going?"

I gave the teacher a grim look. "To the clinic. Toris is sick."

We left before she could protest.

I led us into an empty classroom. We needed privacy. I needed to comfort him without the fear of those heartless people watching.

I sat us down on the ground. Toris was still crying onto me.

"Toris..." I said softly. "Toris... are you okay?"

Second the words came out of my mouth, I thought '_Well, what do you think, Sherlock?_'

Toris shook his head. He didn't look up at me. He was looking at the tile-floor. Not even looking, even.

"Toris, what's wrong?" I asked. "I, like, won't judge or anything. I want to help. You're my best friend, so remember that you can, like, trust me with anything. So please, Toris..."

It was quiet in that room for a long time. The only sound was Toris' sniffling.

"...ix..." he said in a voice too quiet to even be a whisper.

"What?"

"...S-Six... y-years..." Toris said weakly. His voice was hoarse from crying. "I-I've been s-stuck here for exactly s-six years today..."

It was like a reservoir.

One little leak opens up. And if you open it more; everything floods out.

Toris told me _everything_.

_Their_ names.

Every name they called him.

Every trick they'd pulled.

Every time he'd told an indifferent teacher.

Every time he'd been brushed off by his parents, because he was 'being over-dramatic'.

Every time he wished that he had just jumped off the balcony.

Every invalid 'reason' why he deserved this.

_Nobody _deserves this.

I pulled him in closer. Brushed some stray strands of hair in his face. Wiped some tears from his eyes. Made him _look _at me.

"Toris. Toris, you don't deserve this. Any of this. You've been hurt by people who don't even know you. And you've had to endure it all alone... Not anymore. Toris, I _promise _to stay by you. I promise to help defend you from those heartless bastards outside. I promise to be there when you cry and try to make you feel better. I promise that I won't ignore you when you're hurt like everyone else did. I'll listen to everything you have to tell me. Just please... let me be your shoulder to cry on, Toris. So you won't have to, like, cry anymore."

For the next hour we just sat there.

I sat there with my arms around the Lithuanian. He sat there with his arms around me and his tear-stained face on my shoulder.

The only sound in the room were the barely audible words that Liet had almost, like, turned into a mantra.

"T-Thank you... Thank you... Thank you..."

**Can anyone else believe this was written at 4am? I swear, my muse for this is keeping me up at night...**

**Review, please.  
><strong>


	14. That Rumor

_Time for the next chapter._

_To answer your questions: most of the bullies in this story exist, sadly. Still remember their names and faces, because "be sure to remember the faces of your victims, because they'll never forget yours" (Kimbley from FMA). The Valentine's Day cards were sort of obligatory in American elementary schools (or at least in the states I was raised in), so kids would just hand them out even if they don't particularly care about their classmates. So the card Toris got was just the result of the teacher saying 'You should give the new student a card too so he won't be left out'. Also, Toris just lost the scarf when he fell asleep in a random place, he's not sure if it was stolen or not.  
><em>

_I don't own Hetalia._

* * *

><p>POV: <em>Toris<em>

After that, I tried to stay near Feliks as often as possible.

Whenever I was around him, all the sadness and hate seemed to just stop.

Or at least lessen to the point that I didn't notice anymore.

Whenever people looked at us with those cold eyes, Feliks would give them the same look and save his smiles for me.

He was always there when I was feeling sad. Always trying to protect me and cheer me up.

Haha, I sound like a lovestruck girl in middle school.

It was a few days after _that day_.

_They _all seemed amused for some reason. They kept staring at me like I had done something funny. If I looked someone, they would start giggling, look away, and whisper something to their friend.

Actually, everyone seemed to be whispering today.

Everyone except for Feliks.

Feliks sighed in exasperation. "My _gosh_! If they're going to say stuff about us, they should at least, like, have the nerve to say it to our faces!"

It was lunch and we were sitting at our usual spot under the peach tree. Feliks was finally voicing his complaints about the whispers as yet another group of girls walked by us and started giggling.

"Feliks," I said to him. "Relax. They're just words. It's not like words could hurt us."

I of all people shouldn't have said that. A person who flinches at every judgment they hear.

Luckily, Feliks didn't notice. "I know, but it, like, _annoys _me! Rumors don't do anything besides hurt people!"

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang. We got up and threw our trash away and then immersed ourselves into the sea of students.

In the midst of the crowd, I felt someone grab my shoulder. I winced. But before I could turn around to see who it was, I heard a girl's voice whisper into my ear.

"Hey, Toris. I heard that this kid named Brian likes you."

My eyes widened in shock. I whipped around to see a girl with long brown hair smiling at me. She turned around and ran off. Laughing.

I mulled over her words.

Someone liked me? Someone _liked __me_?

There's someone else in this place that wants to be friends with me?

This... This was great!

He could hang out with Feliks and I!

Any caution I had about the strangers in this place was tossed aside. Feliks had reminded me that not everyone was terrible like _them. _I had my hopes up.

That was why, when I reunited with Feliks, I was beaming.

Feliks tilted his head. "Hey. What's got you all, like, cheery all of a sudden?"

"Someone wants to be friends with us!" I said excitedly.

Feliks raised his eyebrows. It was easy to see the skepticism on his face. "And where did you hear _that_, Liet?"

"Some girl told me that a boy named Brian likes me. He could be our friend! Isn't that great, Feliks?"

There was some unknown emotion that flashed through his green eyes. I couldn't tell what it was, but it obviously a sad emotion.

However, he just smiled and patted my head. "Yeah! It's totally great, Liet! Can't wait."

His smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Two classes later...

The day was finally over and we were heading toward homeroom.

I still had a smile glued to my face.

I was in the same kind of stupor I had the day after I met Feliks.

However, I was broken from the stupor yet again.

This time was much worse than the first.

When I walked into homeroom, there was a group of boys sitting in a corner. Most of them had looks of pity on their faces.

The boy sitting in the center of them had his face in his hands.

He was crying.

I felt my heart sink.

I instantly knew who he was.

He was the boy who "liked" me.

One of his friends patted him on the back in sympathy. "It's okay," he said. "Any of us would cry if they said we liked _Toris_." He looked directly at me. He was glaring. He was wordlessly saying 'Look what you did'.

It was all my fault.

I was used as a weapon to hurt someone. To destroy his reputation.

It was apparently the world's greatest shame to be associated with me.

A plague to anyone I talked to.

I wanted to say something.

I wanted to ask them 'What's so terrible about wanting to be my friend?'

However, before I could open my mouth, a sharp sound pierced the air.

It was a familiar sound: the sound of someone being slapped.

Everyone stared in shock.

The tall boy in the leather jacket was still facing the other way. His eyes wide open in disbelief. His right cheek was turning red from the force of the blow.

Feliks still had his hand extended out in front of him.

"_What's so wrong about it?_" he asked with a fury I'd never seen from him before. "Tell me, _what's so damn terrible about liking Toris that you'd **cry **about_ _it_?" He pointed at me. "_Apologize!_"

The boy finally recovered enough to narrow his eyes at Feliks. "_What?_"

"_APOLOGIZE TO TORIS FOR WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT HIM!_"

The other crossed his arms. "Why the hell should I? I don't do anything."

Feliks' eyes narrowed further until he turned on his heel and walked coolly to the door. His shaking hands were balled into fists.

The room filled with whispers before he even grasped the doorknob.

_"What the hell is that tranny's problem?"_

_"How dare it hit poor Jacob like that!"  
><em>

_"If anyone should be apologizing, it should be that **freak **for coming here in the first place."  
><em>

He turned around and glared at the rest of the class.

"You guys aren't any better." He looked around at all the disgusted faces. "Treating people like _shit _because they're not like you. You should be ashamed."

He slammed the door.

The room fell silent.

I slumped into a chair and let the words sink in.

_Apologize to Toris!_

_What's so damn terrible about liking Toris?  
><em>

I almost smiled over the words.

Until I remembered something.

He hit one of _them_.

_They _always had backup.

I jumped up from my seat and ran out of the door.

I hated the images that filled my head.

Images of Feliks crumpled onto the ground.

Knowing them, they'd do it in a secluded place where there would be no teachers to stop them. The nearest place was behind the gymnasium.

Just as I opened the door and made it outside, I heard a scream.

"_Feliks!_"

I ran as fast as I could. I was praying that I wasn't too late.

Then I saw them.

A football player had Feliks' hands pinned over his head while another had his fist pulled back and ready to strike.

In the loudest voice I could muster, I shouted at them. With the same white-hot fury I had when I had that outburst months ago, I said:

"Don't you _dare _lay a hand on my Feliks!"

**Oh my gosh, I finally make it to this part and it comes out as less dramatic than in my head. (sobs)**

**Anyways, review please.  
><strong>


	15. That Fight

_I've planned out this chapter for a while. I hope I don't screw it up. Writing this instead of Nation Novel Writing Month for the moment. Or, for most of it, during a time of great stress.  
><em>

_I don't own Hetalia._

* * *

><p>POV: <em>Feliks<em>

I didn't regret what I said.

Not when they glared at me.

Not when they started whispering about me.

Not even when these sweaty idiots grabbed me.

They totally caught me by surprise too. I was barely a few yards away from the classroom when one of them slapped a hand over my mouth and dragged me outside.

I felt them slam my back against the brick wall and force my hands over my head.

"You have a lot of nerve, tranny," one of them snarled. He was pacing in front of me like a policeman in an interrogation. "Treating Jacob like that."

Feliks grinned. "Why? Not like you treat him any better."

The next thing I know, I'm doubled over coughing while my stomach felt like a it car ran into it. I gave them the best glare I could managed while they sneered.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You think you're better than us? Huh? We have news for you. You're _nothing _here. Even more worthless than that little faggot you're fu-"

I kicked him where the sun didn't shine.

_Hard._

"Don't you _ever _call Toris that, you assholes!" I yelled.

One of them yanked the hair at the top of my head. I screamed. It hurt like _hell_.

The one I kicked pulled back his fist. "Wrong move, you little _shit_!"

I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable ass-kicking they were going to give me.

"Don't you _dare _lay a hand on my Feliks!"

My eyes shot open at the voice.

"T...Toris...?" I gasped.

There was Toris. He was glaring at the jocks with a fury that nearly made _me _scared.

Then his words hit me.

His... Feliks?

Did Toris seriously call me _his _Feliks?

"Or what?" the jock asked. "_Faggot_?"

Toris ran over to them. He quickly punched the guy holding me in the nose. What he lacked in strength, he made up for in speed when he punched him again.

He let me go and started hissing in pain. "OW! Shit! Get 'em!"

I watched them as they ganged up on him. I ran after him, but they knocked me to the ground and stepped on my chest. The other foot looming over my face.

"_Stop!_"

He was pinned to the ground with someone's foot on his damaged back. Two others were stepping on his arms. Even then, Toris was kicking as far back as he could.

"_Don't hurt him!_" he yelled.

Everyone raised their eyebrows. "Don't hurt him?" they jeered. "Don't hurt him? Who should we hurt then? You?"

He didn't answer. He stopped moving. He just glared up at them with lifeless eyes. Silently daring them to do their worst.

They did just that.

In a few minutes, Toris was bleeding from his back. A few more, there were wounds spilling blood from his head.

I couldn't do anything. All I could do was watch while sobbing "Toris... Toris..."

Once they were done with him, he lay nearly lifeless on the ground. The only indication that he was alive was his unsteady breathing. His winced when he tried to look up at me.

The _monsters _that beat the living daylights out of him looked down at me.

"Your turn."

The leader barely took a step before a hand wrapped around his ankle. The bully looked down at Toris, who was pushing himself to his feet.

"Don't... hurt... Feliks."

Even after all of that... the only thing he was worried about was me...

The bully sneered. "Are you retarded or something?"

Toris let out a laugh. It wasn't like the laugh I knew. It was a bitter laugh. A stress relief laugh.

"If protecting someone I care about makes me retarded, then I guess I am."

Someone he cares about...?

Another fist flew in his direction. Toris put up both of his hands in an attempt to block it. He managed to cushion the blow, but he still was throw against the wall.

"What the hell do you think this is? Some TV show? Stop trying to be a hero!" one of them said.

"N-No!" he said. "Get away from him!"

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in the side of my head. Black spots popped up in vision and they doubled when my head hit the ground.

"F-FELIKS!" I heard Toris scream.

Between the black spots I saw feet shuffling around. Toris throwing himself at them.

Then I saw a pair of black heels.

"Boys!" I heard a female voice say. A teacher. "What on _Earth _is going on?!"

_Well_, we were just having a _fabulous _tea party until Liet, like, politely informed our _guests _that we were out of sugar.

Isn't that, like, _obvious_?

At the sight of the teacher, the jocks all did what jocks did best: run like hell. In about five seconds, the only ones behind the gym were me, Toris, and the teacher.

I felt someone pulled me into a sitting position. I didn't really like that. My head was swimming and I felt like yelling at whoever it was to let me lay down and take a nap until he spoke.

"F...Feliks?" Toris asked in a soft voice. "A-Are you okay? Please be okay... Oh god, Feliks, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! Please be okay! You have to be okay! B-Because I l..."

And that's when I passed out.

Hey! Don't, like, give me that look! I totally didn't _choose_ to pass out at that moment!

Anyways, like, when I woke up, I was in a white room with medical posters all over the place.

The school clinic.

I always hated the school clinic. It smelled like sterile medications and opportunity to skip class.

I heard a cough come from a few feet away.

Toris was in the other bed and he was awake. His head was wrapped in bandages, as were what I could see from his arms.

He looked a lot better than before and he was smiling.

And suddenly I loved the clinic.

"Liet!" I said in relief. "How are you feeling?"

He just shrugged. "Well enough," he said nonchalantly. "I've been through worse."

I frowned at him. How could he just not care?

"How do you feel Feliks? How's your head?"

"Just fine... Thanks for, like, asking."

His smile faded. "I...Is something wrong?" His eyes widened slightly. "I-Is it because I let them hurt you? I'm sorry-"

I held up a hand to stop him from flying into a flurry of apologies. "No no! It's not that. It's just... Could you act a _little _more concerned for yourself, Toris?"

He looked down at his lap. "Sorry..."

I sighed. "Don't apologize. Just..." I turned my gaze away. "Thanks for, like, helping me back there."

When I looked back at him, he was giving me such a gentle smile...

"Anything for you."

**Yup, no idea what I'm doing. Ended up writing 'til 4 again. Bleh, my brain doesn't work in November.**

**Anyways, review.  
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	16. That Rose

_No words to describe the relief I got when it was implied that I actually wrote the last chapter correctly._

_After this chapter, there's only going to be two or three more. Sorry. I don't own Hetalia._

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><p>POV: <em>Toris<em>

I looked around and saw the reminders everywhere.

It was a week and a half after the fight I was in.

Ha... 'Fight I was in'. Never thought I'd be saying that and mean anything beyond a beating. In fact, they have been distancing themselves from me ever since.

Anyways, it was a week and a half later. There were bright pink flyers covering every bulletin board in every hallway.

'For just a dollar, send a rose, a teddy bear, or some chocolate to your valentine! Just know the fifth period of the person you want to give it to and sign up at the table outside the cafeteria.'

Of course, since this was high school, giving out Valentines weren't mandatory anymore. However, every year I still saw nearly everyone walking around with a teddy bear or chocolate by 6th period.

I've never gotten any though. I mean, who would ever send me anything?

"LIEEEEET!"

I turned around to see Feliks running towards me with a bright smile on his face. I smiled back at him and waved.

"Good morning, Feliks."

He took my wrist and started dragging me to class. "Liet, since it's, like, Valentine's Day... I want you to have a good day! So, like, stick with me, kay?"

I laughed at how eager he sounded. "As if I would do otherwise."

His face started turning red, but he turned away before I could really see.

Did Feliks have a fever or something?

Right before the classroom door, Feliks suddenly stopped. He faced me with his head turned down. His face was bright red.

"Um... Liet?" he asked shyly.

I raised my eyebrows. He was rarely like this. "Yes?"

"We're, like...really close friends, right?"

Why would he even ask that? "Of course!"

"And I could totally tell you anything, right? And it wouldn't matter to you?"

"Yes..." What was he trying to say? Some secret?

His face turned even brighter red. "Um... Liet... Toris... I... like, l-"

The door to the classroom slammed open. It smacked Feliks and he fell over. I knelt down to help him up.

"Are you okay, Feliks?"

Feliks pouted at the door. "Yeah. I'm fine."

After I helped him to his feet, I asked "Now what were you going to tell me?"

"I-I was going to say that I l-"

The bell rang. Feliks let out a frustrated grunt and stormed toward the classroom.

"I'll tell you later!"

I tilted my head in confusion and trailed after him.

...

"Here."

Feliks looked up at the heart-shaped cookie that was in my hand. I was smiling at him while he gave me a confused look.

"'Here' what?"

I indicated the cookie. "For you."

He grinned. "I thought I told you back in November that you don't have to, like, pay me in cookies to sit down with me."

I laughed. "I'm not doing this as payment. I'm doing this because I want to. Happy Valentine's Day, Feliks."

His face turned pink as he accepted it. "T-Thanks."

He looked funny when he blushed.

"Um... Liet..."

"Yes?"

He let out a sigh. "...Nothing." He stood up and pulled a pencil out of his backpack. "I'll be right back."

"Alright. Take your time."

When he left, I started wondering why Feliks was acting weird today. He was blushing a lot and stuttering...

Well, it is Valentine's Day. Maybe Feliks has a crush on someone.

That could have been it. All the love in the air was getting to him. How sweet! Whoever it was sure is lucky.

...

It was sixth period English class.

We were reading Romeo and Juliet to celebrate Valentine's Day. Because the pink hearts everywhere weren't enough.

The door to the classroom opened. Two girls entered with armfuls of (plastic) roses, teddy bears and chocolate. One of them grabbed the card on a bear with a smile and read the name on it aloud.

One by one, nearly every gift was taken by a student. I ignored the whole process. It wasn't like I was going to get anything.

The last gift was a rose. The girl's face twisted in confusion as she tried to pronounce the name.

"Toris... Lo- Laurinaitis? Toris Laurinaitis?"

I froze.

For me?

A valentine for me?

This had to be some sort of joke.

I shakily stood up and accepted the rose. On the card was my name, albeit written in a very shaky scrawl.

It wasn't a joke.

It was mine.

My face heated up. I plopped back down into my seat.

Someone liked me...

**D'aaaaawwwww. Too bad I didn't write this in February or this would've been even sweeter.**

**Review, please!**


	17. That Night

_Anyways, here's the new chapter. The story got expanded a bit so that you guys get an extra one or two chapters due to something in real life. I don't own Hetalia, never will._

_I'm sorry the last chapter was low-quality. It's easier to write from the other perspective of a crush. I think it's a bit easy to tell what I have experience with and what I don't by how much quality is in the chapter.  
><em>

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><p>POV:<em> Feliks<br>_

I totally felt like the happiest person alive when I saw Liet holding his rose.

He was clutching it in his hands when he walked over to me after school. He was staring at it like it would just disappear if he so much as blinked.

"Liet!" I said. "It's not, like, going to walk away if you stop staring at it!"

You should be looking for the amazing Pole who gave it to you instead.

"Sorry." He looked at me with a blush still on his face. "I still can't really wrap my head around this..."

Well, that makes two of us.

"Who do you think sent it to me?" he asked.

"Maybe a secret admirer." A secret admirer who is walking right next to you but doesn't have the guts to just say 'I, LIKE, LOVE YOU! TAKE THE HINT ALREADY!'

Liet suddenly stopped walking and let out a small "Oh!" He dug into his pocket until he pulled out a small folded piece of paper. It had 'To Feliks' written on it.

As I unfolded it, I started smiling. It had 'You have been invited to Toris Laurinaitis' birthday party on February 16th' written in green ink. Beneath the words was Liet's address and an adorable doodle of mini-Liet and mini-me.

"I wanted to give this to you before I forgot," he said with a smile.

Soon I was on the bus home thinking of, like, a million things at once.

Liet's birthday was in two days. I just gave him a rose on Valentine's Day. What was I going to give him? What was I going to wear to the party?

..._Oh my god! _I totally don't know what I'm going to wear to the party! Green or no green? Skirt or no skirt? This is, like, almost as bad as forgetting to get Liet a gift-

Wait. _Crap_. Forgetting a gift in so much worse.

And the worse friend of the year award goes to... the dumbass Pole who forgot about his best friend's birthday 'til, like, twenty minutes ago! Come up here and get your prize, Feliks!

No, no, I can't accept this prize...

Oh, but we insist!

This little mental argument continued until I was laying face-down on the couch.

"What happened, Feliks?" I heard my mom ask me.

I let out a whine that translated to 'I SCREWED UP BIG TIME!'

"What did you do now?"

I lifted my face off the couch and shouted "Liet's birthday is in two days and I have no idea what to give him!"

Mom was standing beside the couch with a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, what does he like?"

"Fantasy, history, warm weather, Lithuania, anything that distracts him, cookies, and apparently the kid's one hell of a romantic."

Mom had a wide smile on her face. "Oh? What makes you say that last one? Something happen at school today?"

I started blushing and buried my face into a couch cushion. "Liet got a rose today."

"From who? Does the name start with 'F' and end with 'eliks'?"

"He doesn't _know _it was from me. Didn't have the guts to say it out loud." I raised my head out of the cushion and groaned. "For a smart kid, he sure is dense."

"Everyone is dense when it comes to love, dear."

"We're getting off topic here! What can I give him for his _birthday_?"

"I'm pretty sure the identity of his secret admirer would be a good gift. If you don't want to... I'm pretty sure he'd be thrilled at just about _anything _you'd give him."

When she walked back into the kitchen I shoved my face back into the cushion. So couldn't see the twisted 'totally not crying' look on my face. "But..." I said quietly into the pillow. "He doesn't like guys..."

And that's what I kept thinking about until the day of the party.

If you could even call it a party.

The random old guy who was snoring in a chair was the life of the party.

The 'party' was just a bunch of Liet's adult relatives gathered in the living room and talking.

We were, like, the only ones there under thirty, so we just hung out in Liet's room for most of the night. Sitting on the carpet floor playing games.

It took a while, but Liet finally asked me where his present was.

This was it.

Time to give him his 'gift'.

I was terrified. Terrified of how he would react.

What if he got mad at me and kicked me out? What if he got sad? What if he didn't say anything to me, like, ever again? What if he got _scared_ of me?

"Um... L... Toris... Close your eyes first."

My heart was pounding.

He raised his eyebrows but didn't question me. He shut his eyes with an almost eager smile on his face.

I could feel my face heating up.

What if. What if. What if.

No point in wondering 'what if' if I'm about to see what going to happen.

"Toris... Remember when I asked you that question?"

"Which question?"

"When I asked you if you knew what... _that word _meant."

He flinched. He opened his eyes for a moment to glare at me. "Why would you bring that up-"

"Toris, just, please, listen to me and keep you eyes closed."

He reluctantly shut his eyes again for me.

"Toris, you need to know something. That word isn't an insult. It's only an insult if you let them make it one. Hell, it used to mean 'happy and light' 'til some idiots messed it up." So I prepared a speech for this, sue me. "Toris, 'gay' isn't it insult. It's not an insult and I'm not even sure if it applies to you. It's... it's only putting a label on a type of love. Gay is when a man loves another man. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less."

I started leaning forward. My heart racing and butterflies flying around in my stomach.

"It means that I, like, love you, Toris."

I gently pressed my lips against his.

His eyes opened. Shocked eyes. Confused pools of green.

After only a moment, I pulled out of the kiss first. He must have been too surprised to try to shove me away.

Toris had soft lips. Bit chapped, but still pleasant.

Nice way to have a first kiss.

He stared at me with a deep blush across his face. He was still stunned at the fact that I kissed him (hell, I was stunned too). He slowly raised his shaky hand to his lips. His mouth was moving but no sound came out.

"T...Tha..." he croaked. "That... was my... f-first ki-kiss...!"

And somehow the blush on both of our faces got _so _much redder.

I took Toris' first kiss! Yay for me, but boo for him if he's not gay 'cause, I mean, like, he'd have to remember it as 'That birthday where the creeper Pole guy stole my first kiss'-

"S-So..." he said softly. He stopped me in mid-mental-ramble. "That was you...?"

I was about to ask what when he reached up behind him. He pulled something off the dresser and held it up.

The Valentine's rose.

I nodded.

"You really...?"

"Yes, Toris."

There was a long silence.

He wasn't reacting. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Was he happy? Disgusted?

I felt my eyes watering.

_Why didn't he say anything? __It was driving me crazy._

I stood up. I couldn't take it. "S-Sorry, Toris!" I was about to run out the door when I felt his hand grab mine.

"Feliks! Wait! Don't leave!"

I looked down at him. He was almost crying too. He got to his feet and wrapped his arms around me.

"Feliks..." I felt him sob into my shoulder. "I love you too."

"R-Really?"

He squeezed me tighter. "Yes, really."

We had no idea how long we were standing like that. How long we were hugging right in front of the door to Toris' room. When we finally pulled apart, we flopped onto his bed, laughing.

There was a knock on the door and a voice. "Toris? I need to talk to you."

It was Liet's mom.

We glanced at each other. Uh oh.

Toris gave me a reassuring smile. "It'll be fine. Wait for me here, okay?"

He got up and went out the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Toris loved me back. He loved me back. Loved me back.

It's too good to be true. He loved me back.

**(Flips all the tables within a 50-mile radius) That was so cheesy you could dip nachos in it! _Gawd__! _So many weeks and _this _comes out?! What happened to the nice scene in my head I had months ago?**

**Anyways, review, please!  
><strong>


	18. Those News

_(Sarcastically) Happy 7 year anniversary of the day I moved out of my hometown. Liet's gonna have a **marvelous **chapter this year, don't you think? I don't own Hetalia, if I did, I wouldn't be cruel enough to do anything like this to anyone in canon._

_By the way, I love how some of you immediately assumed Toris' Mom heard some of what went on. (bitterly laughs) That's much too predictable. I can do much worse than that._

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><p>POV: <em>Toris<em>

_No.  
><em>

It was Monday. The Monday after my birthday.

The Monday after I received the 'good news' from Mom.

_Why?_

I stared out the window of my bus. Gazing at all the same peach trees I had passed by for six years.

_Why now?  
><em>

The bus jerked to a stop in front of the school. All of the students filed out. The spread about the school, looking for their friends to talk to before class started.

_'I've known this guy since first grade!' Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be able to say that?_

As usual, I met up with Feliks at my locker. He was wearing a caring smile as he said "Good morning, Liet!"

"Good morning, Feliks."

"Did you have a nice weekend?"

_No. _"Yes."

Feliks tilted his head and gave me a look that said he didn't believe me. "Are you sure, Liet? You still have that look on your face."

On the night of my birthday party, after a brief yet important chat with my mother, Feliks pointed out that I looked like 'a kicked puppy'.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit tired. That's all."

_Not exactly a lie._

The bell rang and Feliks said "We're, like, gonna be late!" He grabbed the hand that wasn't full of books and pulled me along. His slim fingers slid themselves in between mine.

I felt my face going red.

He was holding my hand. As if we were a couple.

Well, we did confess. Does that make us a couple?

_Warm. Were his hands always this warm? Why didn't I let him grab my hands sooner?_

The moment we entered the room, there was an uproar. Girls making this high-pitched noise, boys shouting, and the casual 'Ha! I win! You owe me 10 bucks, Trey!'

Feliks ignored it. He held his head up high and still clutched my hand.

He was so strong. To be able to ignore them like that.

_Forget them. It's almost over, Toris._

When we took our seats, a large shadow immediately fell over us. I looked up to Kyle Brooks with a smirk on his face.

A smirk that was almost ruined by the bandages on his nose. I couldn't help but admire my handiwork.

"Well!" he said. "Look who finally came out of the closet!"

"Yup!" Feliks said brightly. "So guess who's the better looking ones here!"

There were several "Oooo!"s around the room. I had to cover my mouth to stop from smirking.

Feliks leaned over to me and said "I've always wanted to say that."

The look on the jock's face darkened as he took a step toward Feliks. Before he could grab Feliks' shirt like he intended, I stepped between the two of them.

He looked surprised, so it was hard to keep my, what I hoped was, stern look. "Back off!"

A few people started snickering. Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Since when did _you _start giving orders?"

_I should have done this years ago._

"Since you won't have to put up with me for much longer. That's why."

The room became quiet. It was stifling silence, as if the entire room had weights thrown onto their shoulders.

I casually sat back down into my seat and pulled out a book to read.

No one said a word, not even when the teacher finally came in.

Feliks didn't say anything.

Though the concerned look on his face said a thousand words.

* * *

><p>"Liet...?"<p>

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

Feliks and I were at our usual spot underneath the peach tree.

_I never really liked peaches._

"Yes. I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine." He grabbed my shoulders and made me look him in the eye. "Remember that you can trust me, right?"

"Of course I remember," I answered.

"Exactly. And I promised to stay by you."

_You promised that, I remember... Why would you make a promise that you can't keep?_

He smiled warmly at me. "So tell me what's wrong."

The words were lounged in my throat.

I couldn't tell him. He was too nice to me. It would crush him.

"I can't," I said.

"Why not?"

I looked to the floor. "You'll find out soon enough."

Feliks frowned. "Toris. Please. Tell me what's wrong."

I shook my head. "I can't, Feliks. I just can't."

I felt him grab my hand. With the other, he made me look back up at him. He was trying to give me a reassuring smile, but the watery eyes were betraying it.

_I'm really going to miss his smile._

"Toris... Whatever's wrong, remember that I'm going to be, like, right here for you. Kay?"

I started shaking. My own eyes started watering at his kind words.

_Please don't make me say it, Feliks. I don't want to tell you. Please don't make me tell you._

"Because what you said make there scared me, Toris. Saying you won't be here for much longer..."

He gave me a sad expression. Such a sad expression that didn't suit him at all.

He couldn't possibly know about what Mom told me yet so why...

Oh.

Did he think I meant...?

Before he could say another word, I squeezed his hand. "Feliks."

"Y-Yeah?" I felt terrible for making him sad.

_You're going to feel worse when you say it._

"I'm not going to do anything bad. Don't worry about that."

"Then what _am _I supposed to worry about?"

I tried to swallow to relief the pressure in my throat. I didn't want to say it. "F-Feliks... I..."

"What is it, Toris?"

I spat the words out. The tone was flat. Indifferent sounding, as if one were talking about the weather. I couldn't even look him in the eye as I said it.

"I'm moving away, Feliks."

**Happy 7 year anniversary out _that day_, and also for me, Happy Moving Day _on _the anniversary. Ain't irony a bitch?  
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**Review, please!  
><strong>


	19. That Argument

_Sorry for last chapter, sorry for this chapter too. Um, yeah, this chapter was delayed a bit because the moving plot twist was thrown in at the last minute and I had no clue on how to solve that (I wouldn't be complaining about moving every other year if I did). That and some of the topics of this chapter have hit... uh... very very close to home at the moment. I don't own Hetalia._

_By the way, I had no idea how to write Toris' mom. My head hasn't exactly been clear lately._

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><p>POV: <em>Feliks<em>

_"I'm moving away, Feliks."_

_Everything stopped._

_I couldn't breathe._

_He was lying, right? He had to be lying, right? He wasn't looking at me, so he had to be lying._

_I let out a shaky laugh. "Haha... Nice joke, Toris. But seriously, tell me what's wrong."_

_He looked me in the eye this time. "I'm not joking. What... What reason could I possibly have to joke about that?"_

I didn't want to believe him.

He was leaving me alone with all of those intolerant jerks! He was abandoning me! I'm apparently his first friend in years and he has to go and _move_.

He couldn't go.

I _needed _him, dammit!

"Feliks?" I heard my mom say.

I was curled up on my bed. Holding Pony to my chest. Mom sat down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

I curled up even tighter.

I didn't want to say it.

I didn't even what to accept that it was happening.

I let out a sob and tried to hide my face. I didn't want her to see me crying.

I felt her arms wrap around me. "What's wrong, dear?"

"...T...T-To..." I could barely speak between sobs. I was so hard. "To...T-Toris..."

"Toris? Your friend?" I nodded. "What happened with Toris?"

"H...H-He..." Spit it out, Feliks. Spit it out and you'll feel better. "H-He's... _moving_!" My voice cracked when I said that. "_Toris is moving!_ _He's leaving me!"_

Feliks, you damn liar, I don't feel better at all.

"He... what?"

"Don't make me say it again!"

She sighed and pulled me into a hug. "It'll be fine, dear."

No, it won't!

"If he's moving soon, you two should try to spend time together and savor it."

In short, you're telling me to wish him goodbye and that there's nothing I could do.

Gee, thanks Mom.

...

Toris wasn't at school the next day.

He wasn't there the day afterward either.

Nor the day after that nor the day after that.

By Friday, I was panicking.

He left already. Didn't even say goodbye.

I asked whether Toris had already moved or not, but the teachers all said that Toris was still registered to the school.

After school, without thinking about what I was doing, I took Toris' bus.

He could leave but like _hell _am I going to let him leave without saying goodbye.

I jumped off the bus when it reached his stop. I didn't just _go _to his house.

I _ran _the entire way there.

Sadly, I didn't recognize his house because of what it looked like. I recognized it because it was the only house in the entire neighborhood with a moving van in front of it.

Mrs. Laurinaitis was standing outside of the house. Her arms were crossed and she had a cold look on her face. The moment she saw me, the air seemed to drop 10 degrees.

I tried to sound polite and keep the glare off my own face. "Hello, Mrs. Laurinaitis. Can I go talk to Toris?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid not."

I crossed my own arms. "Why not?"

"He's not _here _right now." I caught a disgusted undertone with that. Why?

"Where is he?" I gestured to the moving van. "He's moving, isn't he? He should be here for it."

She pursed her lips. "When he is shouldn't be of _your _concern."

"Of course it's my concern; he's my bo-" I caught myself and stopped from saying 'boyfriend' in front of the homophobic mean-looking lady. "He's my _best _friend. And I need to talk to him."

Her eyes narrowed further like she knew exactly what I was going to say. "I don't know where he is."

Whatever expression I had on my face probably dropped at the words. "What?"

"He is no longer under in this household."

Any anger I had towards her faded. It morphed into concern for Toris. "_What?_"

Mrs. Laurinaitis rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "He's _gone_. Run off. No longer living with us. Packed a bag and left." She pointed a slim finger at me. "Went off to go live with his _boyfriend,_" she spat.

Oh.

She _knew_.

"B...But..." I tried to answer back weakly. "He never came to my house..."

"Then he's out on the streets then. This is the punishment he gets for choosing some _gay_" I clenched my fist at the way she said the word "he just met over his own family-"

"Well _excuse _me!" I snapped. "But this _gay _has a name!" I stood up a bit straighter, so I could stare her straight in the eye. "Did you happen to know _why _he was scared to move?"

"He's always been scared to move. Even the first time. He's adjusted once, surely he can adjust again-"

"_Adjusted?_" Did she not know what went on all these years? The bullying? The fear he felt? Was _this _where he inherited his goddamn denseness from? "You call letting himself be bullied every day _adjusting _to a place?"

Her look faltered for a moment before coming back full strength. "I..."

"He's been bullied here for years! When was the last time Toris had a friend visit? Bet you can't answer that, because from what I told me: _I'm _the only one who's ever visited him here! And you're just going to make him go through that again?"

"Life isn't fair," she stated bluntly. "He's going to have to learn that."

Those words.

I hated those words. _So _much. Those default words grown ups use when things don't go to plan. An excuse.

"'Life isn't fair'?" I asked. "That's all you can say? He comes home with bruises, and black-eyes, and broken bones... and that's all you can say? I think he _has _learned that already. You must be blind to think he hasn't."

I turned around and started walking away. I was going to call my mom and ask her to help me look for Toris.

"If he had just decided to be _normal _instead of _gay_..." I heard faintly behind me.

I stopped in my tracks and glared over my shoulder.

"Just _don't_," I said.

"Why shouldn't I? _You're _the one who tainted him!"

I whipped back around. My face was red and my fists were clenched at my sides. "Look, I didn't _taint_ him! He isn't tainted! Homosexuality isn't a disease! It isn't contagious! He didn't even know what the word meant until I explained it to him! He was scared of the word because of _you_! IF ANYONE HERE TAINTED HIM, IT WAS _YOU_!"

I ran. I turned around and ran.

I wasn't going to waste my time arguing with her.

Toris was out wandering the streets. Lost.

He needed me.

And I was going to help him.

**Tired... Insert usual comment about my writing here...**

**Review, please.**


	20. That Rain

_Remember that this began as stress relief, so you guys get a chapter early. I don't own Hetalia. Also, I had no idea how to write the flashback for this chapter since I have no direct frame of reference (had to go off watching scenes from Glee, Degrassi, and remember stupid gossip) since there is no way in hell I'm getting the reference myself.  
><em>

_Oh, in this chapter, the italics stand for flashbacks in case you get confused._

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><p>POV:<em> Toris<br>_

So cold...

I dragged my suitcase along the uneven sidewalk as the rain poured down. I didn't recognize any of the houses and I could tell it was night by then. I was starving and exhausted, so my pace was slow.

I didn't bother trying to shield myself from the rain. I was already soaked to the bone, what use would trying to stop it be?

What was I doing out here?

I didn't know where I was going. I didn't even know which direction I was walking in.

I couldn't even really see where I was going. I saw too many disgusted adults sneer at me. Too many children stare at me. Too many looks of pity from battered men from the streets.

All I knew was that I couldn't go home.

_"No!" I shouted as she dragged me to my room.  
><em>

_"Pack your bag, Toris!"_

_"No! I don't want to leave!"_

_"After all the times you've complained 'I hate this place! I want to leave!' **this** __is the thanks I get?"_

_"Why do you chose now to listen to me? I have a reason to stay now! You can't just take me away!"_

_"I can and will."_

_"I can't just leave Feliks alone here!"_

_My mother raised an eyebrow. "And what does she have to do with this?"_

_I clenched my fists. "**He**_ _is my best friend and I'm not just going to leave him!"_

_Mom rolled her eyes. "You can just make new friends."_

_"I can't just replace Feliks..." I said quietly._

_I couldn't imagine that. A life without Feliks again. It scared me._

_No one to comfort me when I feel upset. No one to talk to without fear of offending or boring them. No more quirky way of speech. No one to call me 'Liet', no matter how strange the nickname is. No one to defend me in case the people in the new place are like **them**._ _No one to stop me from doing... something too rash. No more big friendly smile that made everything brighter._

_"Why are you so desperate to keep this **one **friend?"_

_No one to tell me 'Love ya!'_

_"BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!" I shouted in the heat of the moment. The second I realized what I said, I slapped my hands over my mouth._

_"What?" Her eyes were wide with shock. "What did you just say?"_

_I was trembling. I was terrified. The look in her eyes. The scorn in her eyes._

_I steeled myself and lowered my hands. This was for Feliks. This was so I could be with Feliks. "I'm... in love... with Feliks."  
><em>

_Smack._

_I barely felt it. There was no reason for it. There was nothing wrong for being in love._

_"Take that back!" she screamed. "TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!"_

_"No."_

_Smack._

_"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU FEEL! IT'S NOT LOVE! NO SON OF MINE IS GAY!"_

_"But it is. I love him, Mom."_

_Smack._

_"NO YOU DON'T! STOP SAYING THAT!"_

_"Mom. I love him. I'm staying here. I don't want to argue with you."_

_She glared at me. Looked down on me. She took several deep breathes and then pointed at the door. "...Get out."_

_I stared at her. Mask of calm breaking. "W-What?"_

_"Get out!"_

_"But-"_

_"GET OUT!"_

Which lead to where I am now. Where-ever this is.

I was trying to walk to Feliks' house, but I had no idea on how to get there.

I was lost.

The thunder boomed and the rain continued pouring down. I couldn't walk anymore today. I sat against a streetlight and stared at the ground.

How could I have been so foolish? Running out when I'm underage with nothing to direct me and without any food packed.

I wish it could just stop. I wish all the bad times would just _stop_.

I wanted a friend who could stay with me, was that too much to ask?

My vision was getting blurry. From the weakness or from the rain, I couldn't tell.

I saw blurs of light, beyond the light of the streetlight. Cars. Speeding home to get out of the rain.

For a second, I thought they were lucky, not having to deal with things like this. But every person has their own troubles. Every person has their own place like _that place_. Everyone has their own _them_.

But not everyone has their own-

One of the blurs of light stopped. Over the rain, the tires screeched to a halt. Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps. At first, hesitant, then purposeful.

"TORIS!"

...Feliks...?

My vision was still blurry. I could barely see the face of the person who ran toward me. They bent down and wrapped their arms around my neck.

"Toris! Toris! I was worried! I was, like, so worried!" they sobbed.

Feliks. It was Feliks. He was out looking for me.

"Toris! Toris, can you hear me?" he shook me gently. "Toris?"

I tried to move. To give him some signal that I heard him. But I was so tired.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to my house! Do anything to help, just _please _don't leave me!"

I felt him let go of me, then try to get me off of the ground. He was half-dragging, half-carrying me to a car.

I felt the rain go away and the warmth of the car surround me.

"Mom! Mom, take us home! The hospital! _Anywhere_! He needs help!"

I squinted my eyes, trying see more clearly.

Feliks was in the seat beside mine. He looked almost as soaked as I felt. I couldn't tell where the rainwater stopped and the tears began, but the tears were definitely there.

With as much effort as I could muster, I grabbed his hand.

He stopped his frantic speech.

I tried to give him a smile. "Fe...liks..." I said quietly. "Th... Thank... you..."

That was all I could think to say.

Because he found me.

Because he was helping me.

Because he cared about me.

Because he met me.

Because he saved me.

**There we go! Don't worry, there's one more chapter after this. I liked how the ending came out, but it would be better if one could _see _it.**

**Review, please.**


	21. That Home

_I would like to thank all the people who favorited, followed, and reviewed on this little story. I'm afraid I can't write a sequel for this since I've already written all that I can for this story. A lot of the reviews really warmed my heart to read. To the Anon, of course you may draw this._

_I don't own Hetalia._

* * *

><p><em>Three years later<br>_

POV_: Toris  
><em>

"Do you have to go, Toris?" Alfred asked.

I laughed. "It's only for a week. I'm sure you can manage."

"But I have a test next week! How will I survive without my awesome tutor?" Alfred waved and kept on walking toward his apartment. "See ya, Toris!"

I pulled out my dorm key and unlocked the door. "Feliks!" I called out. "I'm home!"

I saw a blur of blonde and pink before I felt a pair of warm lips on mine. I pulled away and smiled at Feliks.

Feliks gave me a bright grin. "Welcome home, Liet!"

I dropped my bag beside the door and headed toward the couch. "How was your day?"

He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Tiring! It felt like I had a million tests to do and I, like, had to half-ass that English essay to get it done before the deadline. I was about to sit back, relax, and eat some snacks."

I laughed in exasperation. "Looks like I'm going to have to proofread that essay of yours when we get back."

"Don't you always?" Just before I flopped onto the couch, he started flailing his arms. "Wait! Liet! Like, don't sit on the-"

_Crunch_.

"...Couch..."

I pulled out whatever was under me and raised an eyebrow at the unopened bag of paluszki. I accidentally broke half of them.

Feliks stood over me with his arms crossed and an adorable pout on his face. "Liet! You totally killed my snack!"

I gave him a sheepish smile. "Um... Sorry?"

He continued, what I assumed was, glaring at me for a bit. Then he shrugged and turned on his heel. I was confused until I heard him say loudly in a sing-song voice "I wonder where I put those tickets!"

I practically jumped off the couch and ran to our room. Feliks was waving two round-trip tickets to Lithuania in his hand with a grin on his face. I reached out to snatch them back, but he kept moving them out of reach.

"Feeeeliiiiiks! Give them back!"

"Nope!"

"Please! I _need _them!"

"Not 'til you get me a new bag of paluszki!"

"Okay! Okay! I'll buy you a new bag just give them back!"

He put the tickets back on top of my address book. He grin faded into a soft smile. "Sorry, Liet..." He pulled up the corners of my lips. "You need learn when I'm just teasing."

I felt myself blush. It was embarrassing that Feliks thought I couldn't tell apart teasing and mocking! "I_ knew_ you were teasing!"

He pinched my cheeks. "The grumpy face says otherwise, Liet. Smile for me!"

I tried to suppress a smile but I could tell that I was failing. "N-Not until you ask nicely, Feliks."

He released my face. Suddenly, I was face-to-face with Feliks' unstoppable puppy eyes. "Will you _please _smile for me, Liet?"

I couldn't help myself from bursting out laughing. I heard him laugh along with me, saying something about me sounding cute when I laughed.

He always knows how to make me smile.

* * *

><p><em>That place was very cold.<br>_

_I knew it from the m__oment I moved there and it stayed true when I left.  
><em>

_From the moment they saw me try to act like myself._

_"You're so gay."_

_Trying to insult me with words that shouldn't be insults._

_I was just a kid back then. With no one to teach me what those words meant._

_"Hey... Um... Toris, right?"_

_Until I met him._

_Now I can ignore them. Because even if they were everywhere, he was with me._

_Not every pair of eyes were cold. Not those green eyes._

_He was always with me. Even when he wasn't, I felt assured by the fact that I knew he would be back._

_To protect me. To care about me. To talk to me. To laugh with me. To acknowledge me. To comfort me. To be with me._

_Anything and everything._

_I can laugh._

_I can talk._

_I can cry._

_I can live._

_That place is very cold._

_But Feliks makes it warm._

**Yes, I was planning to end the fic like this for a while. Well, not exactly like this but hopefully it has the same vibe!  
><strong>

**Thank you very much for your time and attention. Thank you for giving this fic a chance.**

**Review, please.**


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